


Naruto Needs a Tutor

by pearky



Series: Orphans [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, Fluff, I'm bad at tags ugh, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Trans Male Character, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-08-13 21:43:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20181193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearky/pseuds/pearky
Summary: His tutor pushed his chair back slightly and slowly rose to his feet, finally turning his face to look at Naruto.Oh no, he was pretty.///Entirely self-indulgent high school AU babey!





	1. Tutor

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first time writing something chaptered and longer. im gonna indulge in some cliches here and also headcanon every single character as queer. hope you enjoy!!!

_Maybe_ Naruto could see where Iruka was coming from when he said he needed a tutor, but it was still humiliating and stupid. He knew he was a dumbass, he didn't need someone else telling him that twice a week. Besides, Naruto didn't care about math - he was a sports kid, he didn't need math to play volleyball.

Failing would be bad, though. He really wanted to graduate.

His steps were slow and measured as he made his way to the small classroom, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the hall. He was stalling. It's not that he was scared, rather he was a bit nervous. He didn't even know who his tutor was going to be, that asshole Iruka didn't tell him. With his luck, he was going to get one of the old, irritating teachers from his school that all already hated him. Fantastic.

It's not really that he was stupid, or at least he tried telling himself - maybe if he just studied harder, he'd get it, he was just lazy. He didn't care about the subject, that's all that it was.

At last he finally reached the door and stopped in his tracks. He took a quick second to adjust his appearance - he pushed a hand through his curly blonde locks and pulled his black coat a little tighter around himself. He adjusted the belt around his waist to actually hold his pants up. After all, he'd rather be presentable on the odd chance that his tutor was someone nice.

It took him a few moments to work up the courage to push the door open. It was one of the smaller classrooms where he usually had his Lit class. Afternoon light shone brightly through the large windows, the late October wind breezing through the one that was open. Naruto's eyes landed on his tutor, a guy with black hair and bangs that fell into his face as he was staring down at a book. He seemed to be Naruto's age but he was definitely not from his class, he doubted he even went to this school. Who was this kid?

"Hey!" Naruto's greeting was cheery as usual. His tutor glanced up at him without moving his head; the black eyes that met Naruto's were full of complete indifference, even boredom, evident through the untamed locks of hair hanging in front of them. The boy pushed his chair back slightly and slowly rose to his feet, finally turning his face to look at Naruto.

Oh no, he was pretty.

"Hey," the response was cold and distant, very much unlike Naruto's. He stuck out an elegant hand, his movements fluid and surprisingly dainty despite his masculine frame. "Sasuke." No last name, apparently. Naruto took a single moment to glance over his tutor now that he saw him standing up. He was lean and pale but wore all black clothes that matches his hair and eyes. Were it not for the almost threatening, cool aura around this guy, Naruto may've cracked a joke about his monochormity, but settled for reaching to take his hand, his dark skin contrasting against Sasuke's pale fingers. His nails were long and painted black. Sexy. Naruto was a sucker for nail polish. Kiba painted his nails all the time back when they were together, it drove Naruto crazy in the best way.  
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sasuke's firm handshake.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I'm the idiot you need to teach."

  
"Yeah. Sit down.' Naruto tried hard not to get lost in the deep, calm voice. This Sasuke dude surely was cold - he talked like he'd done this too many times before to care. That was probably the case, too. Either way, the collected and almost bored tone lent Sasuke a cool edge and somehow it fit with the rest of the guy perfectly. Naruto took a quick moment to collect himself and focus his thoughts on math rather than wanting to hear Sasuke talk more. Once they were seated (right next to each other, their thighs just inches from touching. If Naruto wanted to, he could just place his hand on that pretty thigh-)

Naruto took some time to process the past few minutes. Alright, alright. Pretty tutor with a deep, charming voice and great style. He was obviously smart, too. Naruto might've hit the jackpot with this one.

Before he could say anything to ease the tense silence between them, Sasuke set down a paper in front of him. "Fill this out. I put this paper together so I know where you stopped following." What a voice. Naruto couldn't help watching Sasuke's pretty hands as they moved.

"Oh, baby, I stopped following way back in elementary school," the sentence flew out of Naruto's mouth without him really giving it a second thought, but it didn't appear that Sasuke was phased by the nickname, he didn't even respond beyond an amused hum. Naruto briefly wondered if he was called baby often. He _must've_ had someone, he was ridiculously hot. Bastard. Naruto took out his single pen and started working on the paper that Sasuke put together - for a few moments, he thought the text was printed, but on closer inspection, he realised that Sasuke's handwriting was just perfectly neat. What a guy. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto could see him moving - he leaned back in his chair, one of his thighs crossing over the other, his arm resting on his knee and his free hand holding the book he had been reading previously, his slender fingers keeping the pages open. Dreamy. He was so effortlessly pretty, it kind of made Naruto mad. He could barely concentrate on the problems in front of him; it's not like he could solve them anyway. He could still plug the numbers into the quadratic equation but everything past that was shrouded in mystery. Out of ten questions, he could maybe answer three, and he wasn't completely sure on those either.

He gave up in fifteen minutes.

"Arright, that's all I got." Naruto pushed the paper in front of Sasuke and leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner. During the fifteen minutes, he'd accepted his fate as a dumbass - he didn't want to waste Iruka's money pretending he was smart in front of Sasuke when he really couldn't understand anything.

"Already? didn't last long." He watched as Sasuke set down his book after slipping a bookmark in. It seemed like a boring book, it was obviously old, the cover was bright red, it was an eye strain, really. He caught a glimpse of the graphics on the cover as Sasuke slid it into his bag - a yellow star? Weird.

It only took Sasuke a few seconds to evaluate Naruto's paper since he had written so little on it and he placed it down with a little sigh. "Okay. At least I know how much you actually know." Way to make Naruto feel like a dumbass. Well, he was probably right about that. He reached down for his bag that was placed on the floor next to them, digging up a textbook. Apparently he came prepared - he seems to have prepared to accommodate whatever level Naruto was on. He worked in a professional manner, gave him easy to understand explanations in a tone that seemed just a little less bored than before.

The rest of the forty-five minutes was spent actually focusing on math, which is exactly what Naruto came for in theory, but he really wouldn't have minded a bit more conversation that was not trigonometry related. The few times he cracked a joke Sasuke only gave him an amused hum, and he himself stayed perfectly professional. Naruto was beginning to think that Sasuke really was just a stuck-up nerd, but it's not like he could blame the guy - he was getting paid for teaching and he did a great job at it. Naruto was already beginning to understand more of whatever his actual teachers were trying to tell him three years ago. But it was frustrating, sitting right next to this hot guy and having to talk about the subject that bored him the most and not being able to sweet talk him into sitting in his lap.

They parted in the same manner as they met, Sasuke being way too professional for someone his age, and Naruto flashing his signature grin at him as a weak effort at flirting. It seemed like Sasuke had huge walls around him. What a shame.

\---

"You're not gonna believe what happened, right?" Naruto started, sitting on top of his desk, legs rested on the chair under him. Sakura was sitting in the other chair at the desk with Ino on her thigh, and Kiba was leaning on the desk casually.

The pink haired girl was already losing patience and rolling her eyes. "Naruto, I swear to god if this is another story from that dumbass webcomic-"

"No, no, this actually happened," Naruto cut her off, Kiba snorting a bit next to him. "Okay, so, Iruka made me see a math tutor, right?"

"Good on you. You really are going to fail if you keep this up." Ino hummed, her arm wrapping around Sakura's neck lazily.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and let out an airy laugh to hide his shame. "But that's not the point of the story - I go in, right, and I expect some old hag to be my tutor, but it's the /prettiest/ guy I've ever seen!"

"Oh, is he?" Kiba hummed, his service dog nosing gently at his side. The girls let out little whistles. "Tell us about him!" Ino encouraged with a grin, glancing down at Sakura before she turned her attention back to Naruto.

"Well, right, he's... He's /gorgeous/, yeah? He's around our age, I think, he's really pale and his hair is /very/ black, I think it's dyed. It's kinda blue-ish, right? And his /eyes/, god, so black and deep, I love them. He's just a bit shorter than me, too, and he's so elegant and dainty... His name is Sasuke," Naruto gushed, a grin on his face as he did so. Kiba couldn't help but laugh at his friend.

"Haven't seen you this excited about someone since that redhead exchange student left." He poked Naruto's side in a teasing manner. "He must be gorgeous, but what's he like, huh?"

"Bet he's an asshole. That's your type," Sakura added.

  
"Okay, _maybe_, right, but he's _so cool_. Detached and cold and he's so smart! And a surprisingly good teacher. I don't know anything else about him, at all," Naruto laughed a bit, leaning back and looking out the window. "It's weird, I'm almost completely sure he doesn't go to this school. I've never seen him before. But the closest school is like, three towns over - maybe he goes there but then why is he tutoring me, right?"

"Mysterious and cool, huh?" Ino chuckled under her breath and started playing with Sakura's hair. "When are you seeing him again?"

"Next Tuesday. I'll have to look hot when I see him again..." Naruto decided to get off his desk since their break was almost over. "I'm due for a root touchup, too."

"I'll do it over the weekend and we can grab you some new clothes, sound good?" Sakura offered, pressing a goodbye kiss to Ino's cheek as the blonde girl got up from her lap.

"Yeah, that would be good. Thanks, Sakura."


	2. Kropotkin

The next time they met, Sasuke was somehow even prettier than the first time Naruto saw him. His lips curled into a smile the second he opened the door and saw Sasuke's head buried into another book, just as foreign and boring looking as the previous one. The conquest-... Naruto couldn't catch the rest of the title before Sasuke set the book down.

"Hey." Naruto greeted in the same vibrant manner as last week, and Sasuke returned it flatly. His hair was falling into his face again in the most wonderful manner, but as he looks up - wow. He was wearing makeup. _Gorgeous_. He took a seat next to Sasuke, catching a glimpse of the chains hooked onto his trackpants and his mind went crazy. He's not sure what it is about Sasuke but he was crazy about him and his edgy style.

"So, have you done the practice problems I asked you to do?" Sasuke didn't look at Naruto at all, instead focusing on digging up the textbook he brought along with him. As he placed it in front of Naruto, he noticed the silver colour rings on the thin little fingers.

"Sure I have. I'm not sure I did it correctly but I tried, so..."

Their time together passed quickly, and again, despite how much Naruto tried to get Sasuke to open up, he was still completely cold and distant. The best he got out of him was a soft snort at one of his stupid jokes.

At the end of their little session, Naruto decided to try to be a little nosy, try and at least chat him up while he put away the notebook he'd brought along with him.

"Hey, Sasuke," once he was sure he'd got the boy's attention, he continued, "How old are you?" Naruto's question earned a small smirk from the other guy. Naruto thought he might melt. When he wasn't given an answer immediately, he decided to elaborate. "It's just that I've never seen you before, but you must still be in school, right?"

"I'm 18. Same as you," came the answer. Sasuke zipped up his bag and looked up at Naruto for only the second time that day, and though it lasted only a few moments, the eye contact made Naruto swoon. Those perfect, dark eyes, boring into his own, the light, red makeup really bringing out the colour - how was he so beautiful? Sasuke tilted his head in the slightest and averted his gaze.

"Which school do you go to, then?"

Sasuke let out a sigh before he replied. He swung his bag over his shoulder and Naruto finally got to take a good look at him. He seemed taller than last time - Naruto quickly realised the reason behind this were the large chunky combat boots he was wearing. "I'm homeschooled."

Naruto picked up his own backpack and threw his phone in his pocket. "Is that why you're so smart?" He wore a coy smile on his face and looked back at Sasuke, giving him the money he owed for the tutoring. "Thanks for making time for me. Same time next week, right?" He did his best to play cool as Sasuke's fingers brushed up against his own when he accepted the money.

"Hn. Same place, same time," Sasuke agreed. How he managed to stay so calm and collected baffled Naruto. Maybe he missed the obvious sparks between the two of them.

Sasuke picked up the book he'd left on the desk as they started to make their way out the door, together but separately at the same time, Sasuke's nose in his book again. Naruto was surprised the guy didn't bump into anything like that.

"Hey - what are you reading?" Naruto asked, still trying to make conversation even if Sasuke seemed absolutely uninterested.

"It's Kropotkin. I don't think you'd like it." That was probably the longest sentence Sasuke's said to him that wasn't math-related.

"Oh? Never heard of 'im. Is it a novel? Romance? Homoerotic fiction?"

"Not even close." Naruto was satisfied with the small smirk that he managed to get out of the other boy. He headed for his car then, but noticed that Sasuke wasn't following into the parking lot - so no car, or he lives close. Valuable information. He called a quick 'See you later' before he could even think to offer him a lift.

Sasuke just raised his pretty, feminine hand as goodbye.

\---

"Naruto, your guy's a commie."

"No, maybe he isn't! I mean- he was just reading it, I-"

  
Naruto was cut off by his phone chiming with a text. He grabbed it before he finished his sentence and unlocked it, surprised to find a text from an unknown number.

_I can't make it to the school today. Can you come to my place for tutoring? Ssk_ There was an address under the signature.

Naruto's heart pounded fast when he realised what the signature stood for. He felt stupid about it, sure, but the thought of going over to Sasuke's place made him swoon, it felt intimate in a way, even though they'd only met a few times. Maybe Sasuke would be more open if his environment was familiar and he felt safe. Naruto hoped he could get to know him better.

"Sakura, he just texted me." Naruto looked up at the pink haired girl from his phone, a shit eating grin on his face. "Guess who's going over to his place today?"

"No way. You think he's tryna hook up?" Sakura asked, flicking the ashes from her cigarette and pulling Ino just a bit closer by her waist. They were leaning against the school wall, Kiba and Sakura having a smoke during one of their breaks.

"Hmm, if I'm lucky, he is, but I really do think he just can't make it to school. I don't think he has a car and it looks like he lives on the far side of town..." Naruto hummed quietly, watching as Kiba threw the butt of his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

"At least you'll be able to gather more information on him when you see where he lives, huh?" He said, and Ino agreed enthusiastically. "Maybe he's crazy rich! Homeschooled kids tend to be crazy rich, right? Or - or maybe he's actually really soft and his room is all homely and stuff. Wouldn't that be very cute?" She laughed, hiding her face in Sakura's short pink hair.

Naruto laughed in response. "Yeah, that would be cute, right." He let out a soft little sigh, wistful.

Sakura put out her own cigarette and they headed back to class.

_yeah of course see you later x_  
\---  
For a few moments on his drive to Sasuke's place, Naruto wondered if this was a good idea - a strange, edgy kid texted him an address that he should go to. But somehow he still trusted Sasuke. Well, that and he always carried a knife, just for self defense. He had muscle, too, he thought he could protect himself.  
Besides, Sasuke wouldn't hurt him, he was sure of it. Under all of that edge, he really seemed nice.

His phone's navigation system led him to an apartment complex in one of the worse parts of the small town. The parking lot in front of the building was filled with cheap, old cars, Naruto's didn't stand out among them. Not rich, then.

He looked up at the gloomy looking grey building. There were around five floors, a few apartments on each of them, their balconies separated. On a few of them, dark green plants were reaching up towards the light.

He walked up to the door and took out his phone to text Sasuke.

_im here_

_I'll be down in a minute._

Naruto leaned against the light gray textured wall, checking his hair in his locked phone screen. He was trying to look good in an effortless way, in a way where sasuke didn't notice his desperation. His hair was fun and messy, his clothes were loose but fashionable, his belt hanging down at his side - he tried to be stylish to catch up to Sasuke.

He just texted Sakura that he'd arrived safely when Sasuke opened the door. He wasn't wearing any shoes, his black socks patting quietly on the cold tile. He was dressed more casually today than last time, a dark hoodie loosely hanging off of him, ripped jeans clinging to his skinny legs. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail save for his bangs, which fell into his face as usual. He seemed tired under his makeup.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto greeted him with a smile.

"Hi." Naruto swore he could see Sasuke's pale lips curl up slightly. "Follow me. I live on the second floor." Maybe he was sick? His voice sounded stuffy. Is that why he couldn't make it to the school?

"Are you good? You seem tired." Naruto couldn't help the concern seeping into his tone, regardless of how indifferent he tried to be towards Sasuke. He started following him up the staircase, keeping some distance between them.

"I'm fine, yeah." Sasuke didn't sound too sure, but Naruto dropped it anyways. He followed until Sasuke headed to a door - there were houseplants around it, all of them looking healthy and well cared for. Maybe Ino called it and Sasuke really was soft? Perhaps it was his parents'. On the door, the name plaque read 'Uchiha Itachi'. Must be his dad. Uchiha Sasuke, what a pretty name. It fit the boy. In a way, it seemed... Familiar, like he'd heard it before.

Sasuke opened up the door and went ahead before inviting Naruto in. "Shoes off, please." Naruto complied and toed off his chunky sneakers before he set foot in the apartment.

It was... Small. It was one room with a small door which Naruto supposed led to a bathroom. On one side was the kitchen area of the room, only the bare necessities present, a small dining table with three chairs near the counter. The other side had one mattress on the floor next to the wall, tidily made, another mattress that was placed up against the wall, seemingly not in use, a small TV on a stand and a desk with a rolly chair, a spare chair in the corner. There was little space to move.

Despite this, the room didn't feel crammed - the large windows let in plenty enough light, everything was neat and clean, the decorations were minimal, mostly limited to tasteful, minimalist art on the walls and bookshelves filled with old looking books - including that odd looking red one. There was a door to the balcony near the bed and through the glass Naruto could see the lush plants outside and a cat sleeping in the lazy autumn sunlight.

"Take a seat at the desk, I'll open up a window." Sasuke's voice snapped Naruto out of his observation. He threw his bag down after digging up his notebook and sat.

"Do you live alone?" Naruto asked, his eyes following Sasuke as the other boy opened one of the windows. He saw three pairs of shoes in the hallway, one of them considerably bigger than the other two - Itachi's? - but there was only one mattress. Maybe he lived with his boyfriend...?

"Sort of," Sasuke replied shortly. The cat outside stretched comfortably as it woke up, its body elegantly moving as it stalked up to the balcony door. Sasuke turned his head when it meowed and let it in. "Come in, Katsu."

"Is that cat yours?"

"Yeah. Hope you don't mind her, she's friendly. She won't be bothering us." Sasuke crouched down and gently pet the black fur as the cat rubbed up against his knee.

"No, of course not, right. I love cats." Naruto spun around in his chair to look at the cat properly. She left Sasuke and paced over to the chair. For a second, she hesitated before she jumped up into Naruto's lap, much to his surprise and happiness - he started petting her gently.

Sasuke grabbed the chair from the corner and set it down next to his own. "She usually isn't this friendly - hope that's okay." His voice was softer than usual, the dull, bored edge gone. It was obvious he wasn't feeling well, even if he didn't admit it.

"Oh, no, she's great. She's got great taste, right." Naruto flashed a smirk at Sasuke, whose lip twitched slightly. Naruto wished he could see him smile - he must be beautiful.

Katsu started to purr in his lap.

  
"Let's get started, then," Sasuke hummed after a moment of listening to his cat, opening the textbook that they usually used.

They had to sit close together at this small desk, only inches from each other. When Sasuke leaned in a little to explain something to him, Naruto could catch a whiff of his smell - coffee, cigarettes, and a hint of vanilla. Surprising, but very, very pleasant. When Naruto worked a little on his own, Sasuke leaned back in his chair and Naruto could feel his gaze on his hair and face. Once, when Sasuke wrote something down and Naruto reached for his pen, their forearms knocked together.

The feeling in his chest was so stupid and unnecessary.

\---

"Do you need anything? Glass of water, or something?" Sasuke asked when they were finished , his side leaned casually against the doorframe, Katsu at his feet as he watched Naruto trying to force his feet into his shoes.

"Oh, um." Narutos glanced up at Sasuke through his lashes, catching his soft expression. His lips were pale - he probably started running a fever, too, he looked like he was shivering. "No, thanks, though." He finally decided, straightening up. "Hey - you don't have a car, right? Do you need some kinda medicine? You look pretty ill."

"No - I'm fine." Sasuke crossed his arms over himself, his face still soft, his body still shaking. Naruto let out a quiet sigh.

"Get well soon, Sasuke. You need anything, shoot me a text, right? See you next week." He picked up his bag and swung it over his shoulder, his hand quickly running through his hair.

"Bye, Naruto." The door shut behind him, and Naruto was left with the sound of Sasuke saying his name ringing in his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so it continues. honestly, the best thing about writing clichés is that you can practice writing without ruining a good idea you've thought up.  
Anyway, this is the next chapter and I hope youre digging it! I think I wrote this when I was tipsy. Next chapter will be out in a day or so so i have time to get ahead a bit hehe


	3. Orphan

'How was your math class today?' Iruka's food was steaming in front of him as he mixed it with his chopsticks. They hadn't got a chance to sit down and eat together like this in a while, Iruka busy with his teaching job and Naruto busy with school and practice and now his tutoring. Eating like this was just like old times, when Iruka brought him here for his first week.

'It was good, right. Everything makes so much more sense now, this guy really knows how to put things into perspective, he's so easy to follow,' Naruto shoved some rice into his mouth even though it was burning hot. Iruka really became a great cook over the years - when he first took Naruto in, they lived on instant ramen and other microwave food because Iruka would keep adding too much salt or burning the meal. 'I had to go to his house today, right, I think he was sick. He lives in this really small apartment, even smaller than ours. He must have needed the money badly if he was teaching even when he was sick...' Naruto trailed off. 

'He must be a really conscientious kid.' Iruka seemed oddly quiet to Naruto. Suspicious.

'Do you... Know anything about him?' Naruto asked, words slow, seemingly hopeful. Iruka must've known something about Sasuke if he chose him as a tutor, right? He was always thorough to make sure Naruto had the best resources they could afford. 

Iruka pushed his food around for a bit, took a bite into his mouth, and answered only when he's swallowed it. The atmosphere shifted the second Iruka's voice filled the room. 'Sasuke's parents were killed. It made national news ten years ago. Or at least I think they're his parents - Uchiha isn't a very common family name, and since I know he's an orphan, I just thought it was safe to assume.' 

Whatever Iruka told him afterwards, Naruto barely heard it; the words that rang off the walls were heavy and pressing down on his shoulders and chest.

Sasuke was an /orphan/. His parents were /killed/.

His mind shut down then. Ten years ago - Sasuke was eight or so, which meant that he knew his parents before he lost them. The thought alone broke Naruto's heart to pieces. He remembered the older kids he met back during his brief time at the orphanage - Naruto was too young back then to know how or why they got there, but he knew enough about loss to understand why they were crying all the time. 

At least Naruto didn't remember his parents. He was 2. 

Every single thought and memory and feeling tore him to shreds. His heart broke for Sasuke. It felt so close, so real to him, and he somehow understood everything about the isolated way Sasuke went about everything, the distant and cold attitude he kept up, the small apartment and his job, his refusal to speak to Naruto about anything but his subject. It all fit together. 

'So who's Itachi?' Naruto ended up asking. He realised he probably cut Iruka off but he wasn't paying attention to what he was talking about the past minute. He couldn't, not now when he was hurting so bad.

'I think it's his older brother. Why?'

'Saw his name on the door... I suppose he's the guy he /sort of/ lives with.' Naruto set down his chopsticks with a quiet little sigh. 'The food is great, Iruka, but this was just a bit too much right now. Is it okay if I eat it later?' 

'Of course, Naruto. I'm sorry. Do you need to talk about it?' Iruka asked, his eyes filled with concern as he looked up at his adopted son. Naruto wondered for a brief moment how lucky he was to have Iruka, at least, to have someone who'd give the world to him if he could; he pushed his chair back and stood from the table. 

'No, it's okay. Thank you, though. I'll be in my room.'

\---

'Sooo, how was it with the dreamy teacher yesterday? Did you /finally/ ask him out?' Ino asked, leaning her head into his hand. Sakura wasn't in his Lit class so she wasn't hanging on to her right now. Not that it ever bothered Naruto - he was quite happy his best friend found such a sweet girl.

'Oh, right. Sasuke.' Naruto ran his hands over his face in a desperate attempt to fight off the sleep that oh so persistently wanted to take over him. He really would rather not think about everything he'd learned about Sasuke yesterday, the information still raw and unprocessed in his brain even after a whole night of laying awake and thinking about it. 'I don't wanna talk about it right now. Maybe on the smoke break.'

'Sounds rough.' Ino traced shapes with her finger on the desk. 'Whenever you're ready to talk about it, I'll be here, sweetheart.' She offered, reaching to take Naruto's hand and give it a supportive squeeze. Ino was always so physical, so affectionate, Naruto really adored her for that. 

'Thanks, Ino. I might take you up on that offer a bit later.' Naruto returned the soft squeeze to her. Despite being a later addition to their friend group, Naruto always viewed her as the girl who understood his emotions the most, it was like she could tell from a single glance what he was feeling. 'I need your life-changing insights.'

'Oh no, there must be a huge problem there.' Ino hummed, letting her hand slip out of Naruto's. 'I'll listen to you, whatever it is. I know you'll figure it out on your own, though. You always get through rough patches, you're great at it.' She encouraged, wearing one of her lazy smiles. 

'Thanks, Ino.' Naruto returned her smile. It was strange, but in a way, Ino reminded him of Katsu with those long, sweet blinks. 

\---

'Naruto, I thought you quit, you asshole.' Oh shit, Sakura was glaring. That was never a good sign. 

'Yeah, well. Sometimes you need to unwind, right?' Naruto took a long drag once his cigarette was lit, the smoke burning up his chest and if he wasn't too proud he might have coughed, but instead he just exhaled slowly, his back resting against the building, the ground cold against his butt as he sat. If he wasn't freezing, he would have laid his coat on the ground, but the November air was sharp and biting. 

'What got you so tense, huh? Sasuke kid rejected your advances? Said you weren't pretty enough for him?' Kiba asked, flicking ash from his own cigarette. Ino gave him a little shove.

'That would've been surprisingly in character, but no.' Naruto felt so calm with the smoke flooding him. He knew he needed to quit but it was hard when it got his mind blank so easily. He could just focus on the burn, the click of the lighter, the terrible smell that lingered on his fingers for days, the smoke curling around him like a painting and suddenly everything was blank and grey. 'No, it was just... Weird. I get to his house, it's a normal apartment complex, right? He's so pretty, as always, but something is so off - turns out he was sick the entire time, running a fever and all that. Still /so/ pretty, ridiculous.' Naruto was already rambling. He tried to take a long drag to clear his mind again and slow down a little. 

'Second floor, everything seems normal. Name on the door says /Uchiha Itachi/.' Naruto tried to watch for a reaction among his friends - and he found it when he saw Sakura freeze up for a moment. She must be aware of the murder case. 

He continued. 'Its his dad, I'm sure. But I step in, it's a /tiny/ place, right? Single room, half kitchen half bedroom. There's a single mattress that he apparently sleeps on and a spare one, I think? I ask if he lives alone and he says /sort of/. What the fuck, right?' Naruto cut himself off before he started speaking too fast. He sighed deeply before he took an angry drag. Why was he so angry? 

'That's... Weird.' Sakura agreed, smoke trickling out of her mouth as she talked. She seemed rigid and silent already. Ino was still intently listening. 

'Is that it? Naruto, the dude's a commie, of course he's not rich.' Kiba muttered, Akamaru's head gently rested on his lap. He tried hard to aim the smoke away from the dog.

'That's not all. Here's some highlights about the whole thing before I dive into the bad part, right - he smells like smoke and coffee and fucking /vanilla/, he has a small black cat who loves me a lot, he's ridiculously tidy, he has a stupid large amount of plants and when he's not edgy he seems nice. He's so caring and sweet with his cat, it's adorable.'

'That's really nice but I can't really focus on that with your terrible foreshadowing.' Ino told him, her long fingernails gently scratching at Sakura's head. 

'Okay, alright, the real point is I was confused on this guy's deal so I asked Iruka what was up with him. Turns out he's an orphan, too.'

The group fell silent, and for a few moments, they smoked quietly together, the only sounds being their breathing, Ino's fingernails dragging gently on skin, and at one point, Kiba's lighter clicking. 

They all knew what this meant to Naruto without having to ask about it. They all remembered the last time Gaara opened up to them about his mother. 

'Well, what does that change?' Ino asked eventually, which really saved the other two in this uncomfortable silence. 

'Well - fuck, I don't know-' Naruto threw his arms up in defeat. 'I don't even know what I'm feeling. I feel so angry and sad and like something terrible is going to happen but mostly I feel so devastated for him and I /know/ he wouldn't want me to feel that for him, because I know /I/ don't want others to feel that for me, but he's stuck in a tiny apartment with no normal bed and he has to work even when he's sick to support himself.' Naruto put the cigarette out on his tongue before he flicked it away. The ashes tasted foul. Why did he do that? 'Sorry about that. I just... Got a bit emotional. I think I just need time, right?' He pushed himself up and then stood, letting out a quiet sigh. 'It's fine, I'll be fine.'

'Naruto, I know this is sore for you. But maybe it's time you finally try to deal with everything going on, you know. I know it's a whole thing, unpacking all of your family trauma, but you seriously need to stop projecting it onto every orphan you meet.' Ino was quiet and sincere with her words, and although what he said was harsh, she said it in the most loving tone. She stood up and helped her girlfriend stand. 

Naruto let out a long sigh as he grabbed his water bottle. 'Great psychological analysis as always, Ino.' The way Ino reacted to his sarcastic tone made him regret it. He washed down the ashes. 'You're right, okay? It's just... Hard to be reminded of the past.' He muttered quietly. 

'I know. But maybe this isn't that bad? Maybe you two can connect on this? I don't know.' Sakura wrapped her arm around Ino, the four of them heading back to class. 

'Sakura, bonding over your tragic family status isn't how you get into a guy's pants.' Kiba muttered as he dusted his ass off. 

'Look, there's probably gonna be no bonding over anything with this guy, he's so closed up. I'm trying really hard to get him to talk about anything other than math and that's eating up all my energy right now - I don't think I should start with unlocking his devastating history.' Naruto shoved his hands into his coat pocket. 'Anyway, I didn't do my homework. Can I copy yours, Sakura?'

'Asshole. Of course you can.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mostly wrote this as practice. Since there's not a lot happening in this chapter I might post the next one early, I'm really excited to post it anyway. Hope you liked it hehe


	4. Pneumonia

The next time Naruto arrived at Sasuke's apartment complex, he was told to use the door phone to get in. Sasuke had asked him to come to his apartment again, which was concerning - he didn't mind coming to this apartment, it was homely and surprisingly welcoming, but this would mean that Sasuke had been sick for over a week. Second floor, then it was easy to spot the bright green plants outside the door. They seemed to be wilting - Sasuke was probably unable to take proper care of them. 

Just as he was about to open the door, someone opened it from inside. Naruto just had the time to jump back before a figure in a long, black coat with a high collar stepped out in a rush. Naruto could barely get a look at the man's face in the hurry, but he caught a glimpse of deep bags under very dark eyes and long, black hair, untidy but still falling flat into the man's face. He was /tall/, even taller than Naruto. The feeling that Naruto got around him was conflicting - he felt uneasy, yet somehow, despite his mysterious appearance, he felt the same kindness he could see in Sasuke. 

'Oh, hello - sorry.' The man didn't introduce himself, just pushed by Naruto and headed to the staircase. Naruto didn't have a chance to say hi, even. That must be Itachi. The single glance was enough for him to recognise the similarities between him and his tutor - even their voices were the same kind of deep and detached. 

Naruto shook his head a bit in wonder and entered the apartment; Itachi had left the door open. The smell of soup surrounded him before he noticed anything else, including the boy in the apartment. Sasuke stood up from where he was sat at the desk and a smile immediately spread across Naruto's face just as he heard the noise of his footsteps. 'Hey. That your brother? You look so alike,' He commented in his usual, cheery, chatty tone as he toed his shoes off. Only afterwards did he really look up and he took in the sight of Sasuke. 

He looked like shit. 

His hair was put up into a messy looking bun - which Naruto had to admit was very cute, very endearing - a new, large, black sweater keeping him warm, wearing leggings this time rather than the ripped jeans. It seemed like he still tried to put in effort to look somewhat presentable but the huge circles under his eyes were unmistakeable - he looked like he was almost falling asleep standing up. A coffee mug steamed on his desk. His skin looked sickly and the usual poise with which he carried himself was gone. 'Yeah. Itachi.' His voice was raspy, which under any other circumstance Naruto might have found very hot, but now it just filled his chest with an inexplicable pang. 'Take a seat.'

'Dude, are you okay? You look very sick.' Naruto didn't even attempt to mask the concern in his voice, the playing hard to get act thrown out of the window. His stomach dropped all the way to the floorboards when Sasuke turned away and coughed into his elbow, his entire body convulsing with it. 

'I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it,' He sat down at the desk and took a sip of his coffee (black, Naruto noticed, very in character), completely ignoring Naruto's concern. That fucker. He decided to drop the subject once he realised Sasuke was apparently set on actually doing math today and sat down next to him at the desk once he'd dug out his notebook. The whole thing felt... Wrong. He felt shitty for making Sasuke work while he was sick - still, in a way, he was glad Sasuke wasn't alone right then. He had a feeling that Itachi wouldn't return for a while since the spare mattress was propped up against the wall again. At least it seemed like he took care of him until he had to leave. 

It turned out that Sasuke was aware of his handicap with talking since he mostly gave Naruto stuff to do on his own while he sipped on his coffee and read some other boring looking political book that Naruto couldn't really bother to read the title of - it seemed /long/. The problems that he was given were obviously designed to help Naruto practice what Sasuke had taught him over the course of three weeks and Naruto had to say he was getting pretty good at them. Maybe he wouldn't fail after all. He'd been solving the problems with little difficulty for maybe a good fifteen minutes until he hit a wall with one of them; he raised his head to ask for help from his tutor. 'Hey, Sasuke-'

As he looked at the other boy, his stomach dropped again. Sasuke was visibly shivering, his face drained of colour, his lips trembling with the cold, his body curled up in his little sweater, still pretending to read his book. It broke Naruto's heart in two. Poor guy, brother too busy to take care of him when he was sick, having to work to support himself even though he's /obviously/ not suited right now. He let out a sigh and decided that this had to end, he couldn't be complicit in Sasuke hurting himself. 'No, enough of this. You're too sick to be doing this. Sit down, eat your soup, read your weird socialist literature, don't teach. I'll pay your time, okay? Just don't do this to yourself.' Unintentionally, his words came out harsh and sharp. He shoved his notebook into his bag. He suddenly felt so /angry/. Why was he so angry again?

'You actually looked up Kropot-' Sasuke cut himself off and shook his head. 'Naruto, look, I'm fine.'

'You're obviously running a high fever, right? You don't need to work like this. Please.' Naruto stared Sasuke right in his bloodshot, tired eyes, trying to show him that he was serious about this. The expression on the other boy's face was undecipherable. 'Look, what do you need? Do you have any meds to take, do you want me to make you some tea?' 

Sasuke stood up slowly, leaning on his chair for support. 'Naruto, no, just come back-' 

'Sasuke, /shut up/, go lay down. Please.' Naruto took a deep breath to calm his rising rage. This is stupid. Naruto wasn't in any position to act like this around Sasuke, he knew this was weird. But he knew what it was like to have no one to help in a bad, vulnerable situation and he couldn't leave without helping. There were so many times when he wished that a single person noticed how lonely he was and how much he needed someone to just /be there/.

Sasuke seemed to give up trying to continue his session. 'Look, you don't- fuck.' His teeth started chattering with the fever. He took in a deep, shaky breath before he continued, 'Okay. You're right. But you don't have to take care of me, I'll be fine. And I'm not charging you full price.' He sounded so different now, so... Open, so soft. His voice flowed so much smoother, his words were rounded instead of sharp and cutting. He'd crossed his arms over himself as he eyed the floor, obviously uncomfortable with his loss of control and vulnerability. He coughed quietly into his chest and Naruto let out a quiet sigh. Maybe he was right - They didn't know each other at all. Naruto was just... Projecting onto Sasuke, or however Ino had put it. Sasuke was an adult. He didn't need a stranger to help him when he was sick.

'All right. I'll make you tea, pay you, leave you alone. Deal?' Naruto offered anyway. Sasuke let out a groan and ran his hands over his face. He sat down on the mattress in defeat. 'Okay. Green tea is above the sink in the cupboard.' 

\---

By the time Sasuke's tea was done, he'd fallen asleep. 

Naruto stood still for a second when he realised this and looked down at the sleeping form at his feet. Despite the absurdity of the situation, he couldn't help the fond smile that tugged at his lips. He watched Sasuke's cat patter her way over to the sleeping form and curl up at his back; she probably enjoyed the heat Sasuke was giving off. He briefly considered taking a picture so he had something to show his friends but decided that that would be disrespectful and creepy, instead he set the mug down on the desk and leaned against it, eyes fixed on the silently sleeping figure for a few moments. A few strands of hair had come loose from his hair tie and were now scattered across his face, his eyelashes fanned out on his sharply angled cheeks that were stained red with the heat of his fever. His lips were parted slightly and he breathed softly through them, though his breathing seemed ragged and heavy. His hand was sprawled out near his face. The elegant fingers rested loosely on the mattress. He was beautiful. 

Naruto tore his eyes away and pulled out his wallet. The sum he left for Sasuke was just a bit more than what he usually paid, the bills set neatly next to the streaming mug. 

He picked up his backpack and stepped outside quietly, the door clicking shut behind him with a nice sound. He watered the plants before he left the building.

\---

That night, he dreamed of Sasuke. Well, one of his dreams (he also had a nightmare and a dream where he, Kiba and the weird bug kid from Sakura's biology class went camping). By the time he woke up it was just a fuzzy set of vague memories but he distinctly remembered a hot forehead against his own, elegant fingers locked into his dark ones, and the taste of vanilla on his mouth. As he desperately hoped that this was one of those prophetic dreams that people talked about he recognised a stupid little feeling in the middle of his abdomen. 

\---

'Hey, sorry about yesterday. Thanks for letting me rest.'

Naruto was in class when his phone vibrated, but honestly, his math teacher was a thousand times worse than Sasuke in every single way so he saw no harm in texting the boy back. 

'of course. are you feeling better? slept it off n all that'

'Guess I am. Hopefully I'll be fine by next week.'

Naruto was considering making a joke along the lines of how Sasuke was always /fine/, but the old hag called out his family name in her ugly shrill voice and he had to give up his phone with the promise of getting it back at the end of the school day. He thought that was stupid. He never used it in his other classes because Art and Literature were fun subjects with cool teachers.

\---

'Smoking again, huh? Something bothering you again?' Sakura asked during their usual sneaking out break when Naruto hogged her lighter. Kiba was missing from their group today, he blushed and made some stupid excuse so they collectively decided to let Kiba keep his secrets and make out with whoever he wanted.

'Sakura, it's Wednesday! You know it's always Sasuke-gushing day on Wednesday.' Ino cradled her girlfriend's face in her gloved hand in a gentle manner. Sakura turned her head to press a brief, loving kiss to her lips. 'Mm, yeah. Slipped my mind. Gush on then, lover boy.'

Despite Naruto trying to play offended, the coy smile on his face showed that he wasn't angry. He flickered Sakura's lighter (naked lady on the front, classic Sakura), and lit up. 'Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll talk about Sasuke, right.' 

'Look, I tried to text you and ask about it yesterday but you insisted on talking about it in person because /he's worth more than texts/. The curiosity is killing me by now.' Sakura played with Ino's hair absentmindedly and Naruto stared at her hands. God, he wished he could do that with Sasuke's hair. 

'Yeah well, I said it then, I stand by it now.' Naruto laughed. 'First of all, I met Itachi.' 

'Ooh, what's he like? Is he hotter than Sasuke? Cool, Mature, all that?' Ino teased, taking a long drag from the cigarette she stole out of Sakura's hand. 

'He's... Tall. But that's around as much as I got. We just bumped into each other at the door. Seemed like he was leaving. Sasuke looks so much like him, right, it's great. I prefer Sasuke, though.' Naruto hummed. 

'Just get to the point!' Sakura urged on impatiently.

Naruto started to talk about what happened yesterday. His gestures were wild and at one point he was fairly certain the ashes from his cigarette burned a hole in his glove but he'd been saving up for a new pair anyway.

'... So I turn to ask him if he wants sugar in it, just a few minutes later, and he's just... Passed out. He really just fell asleep when I was right there. Imagine how exhausted he must've been - this guy's got /walls/ and he still fell asleep with a stranger in his house.'

'Wow... Poor kid.' Ino watched as Naruto struggled to light his cigarette again. 'So you just... Left, or what?' Sakura asked next. 

'Yeah, well, what else was I supposed to do?' He ran a hand through his hair. 'He texted me and apologized for it though. Then he thanked me for letting him sleep. But the fucking math hag took my phone, right? So I'll have to wait till I can text him back.' He pressed his head back against the cold wall behind him as he exhaled the smoke. 'Anyway. Who do you think Kiba is with?'

'I can't think of anyone else other than Shikamaru, who has a girlfriend, or Shino. Or maybe he's hanging out with Hinata but that seems unlikely. I don't think he'd spend his smoke break with her.' Ino was always in on all the gossip, obviously. 

'Wait, who's Shino?'

'Bug kid.' Sakura replied. 'He must be with Shino, I saw them talking the other day. You know Kiba's into creeps.'

'Sakura, we dated for half a year.'

'Yeah. I know,' Sakura laughed as Naruto shoved her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey you, i hope you liked this chapter, its cute, its stupid, its sns. also kibashino cause i think theyre neat.


	5. Hangover

The town lights shone brightly under his gaze as he stared out over the railing on his balcony, his view only obstructed by the curls of cigarette smoke dancing in front of his eyes. He was leaning forward on his forearms, which were resting on the iron railing, the cigarette dangling from between his fingers. Music seeped out through the closed door, the beat making his already uneasy stomach twist. Goddammit. Shouldn't have drank so much. 

It was only a matter of time before Ino came out to the balcony looking for him, a bottle in her hand. 'Come on, Naruto, you've been out here for way longer than one smoke... Come back, everyone's having fun. Besides, Kiba and Shino are sitting all close together, you wouldn't wanna miss them making out,' she coaxed, leaning against the railing herself. She took a swig of her drink, lips curled in her lazy cat-smile as she looked up at Naruto. 

'Yeah, yeah, I'll just have another one and then I'll join you. Do you want one?' He asked, opening the box and handing it to her. He kind of missed because he was drunk, but Ino declined anyway. He grabbed one for himself. 

'You wanna talk about what's on your mind?' She asked quietly while she watched Naruto light up his cigarette clumsily, on his third try. It was obvious that something was bothering him badly tonight. He was the one to throw this party and he was out here smoking all alone. 

'I think I'd rather be alone right now, but thank you anyway.' Naruto was quiet with his response, speaking between two deep inhales. He was looking out over the city again. Iruka's apartment was in a great place, they got a great view from the first floor since the house was pretty high up. Iruka said it was his granddad's before he passed away and left it to him. 

'Anything you'd like, love.' Ino gently stroked Naruto's arm before disappearing back into the room. Naruto stayed outside and turned his attention to the streets and away from the impressive skyline. It was completely empty save for the occasional passerby and stray cat. Naruto was getting lost in the feeling of almost throwing up and the drowsiness of the alcohol and for a brief moment, he wasn't paying attention - that is, until his eyes locked with someone walking under his window. Onyx. 

His first thought was obviously Sasuke (he was barely thinking about anything else right now) but then he saw the long hair and the hands shoved into the pockets of a black coat. Itachi was still staring at him when he returned his gaze to the man's eyes. They were so /sharp/, even sharper than Sasuke's. Naruto felt very uneasy from the expression he was wearing. He stared at Naruto until he fully passed the building, in an almost threatening, dangerous way. This was /shady/. 

He threw the butt of his cigarette over the balcony rail and went back inside just in time to catch Kiba and Shino making out on his couch. He decided to join in on the conversation going on between Hinata and Lee about cat breeds. 

\---

Most of what happened after the cat breed discussion was a blur. He remembered another shot of vodka and then he /kind of/ remembered his favourite song coming on and dancing with Sakura to it, and then Hinata kissing him /again/ - God, he hoped he let her down gently. Well, she was drunk and Naruto was obviously very handsome, so he couldn't really blame her. 

He woke up in the middle of the living room. He seemed to be sharing a mattress on the floor with long hair, expensive clothes - Neji, yeah. He had an arm draped over Naruto's middle as he slept, but when Naruto sat up he, too, rolled onto his back in his sleep and pulled his arm away. Naruto smiled weakly before he had to go and throw up. 

It appeared that Sakura was already awake since she came into the bathroom after him with a glass of water and rubbed his back. 

The two of them sat in silence for a while on the cold bathroom floor, still a little buzzed, mostly just hungover. They stared, Sakura up at the ceiling and Naruto down at the floor, in complete understanding of each other's misery. Sakura was the first to speak after a few moments. 'Dude, Kiba and Shino, huh?'

'Right. I hope they hooked up on my bed and not Iruka's. He would be so mad,' Naruto worried, pulling off his shirt that was way too sweaty and tossing it to the side, right into the laundry basket. 

'Ah, no, they fell asleep on the couch. They were still there when I woke up.'

'Oh, yeah, right. I didn't really get the chance to look around this morning.' Naruto let out a little laugh despite how awful he was feeling right now. 'Fill me in. I have nothing after Mr Brightside.'

Sakura glanced over at him suspiciously. 'Nothing?' She asked, looking up at Naruto. He innocently shook his head in response. He'd rather Sakura tell him. 

'Well, the highlights are Lee going on a seemingly unprompted, way too long and angry rant about oriental shorthair cats, Hinata actually /dancing/, and - oh yeah - Neji kissed you.'

'Wait, what?' Naruto picked his head up. 'I sort of remembered that but I thought it was just Hinata again.' Why did he wake up next to him? This sounded bad.

'Yeah. You seemed into it for a while, but then you pushed him away and talked for like ten minutes about Sasuke.'

God, that was worse than Naruto simply just accepting Neji's advances in his drunken state. He let out a deep groan and buried his face into his hands in shame, cheeks heated up. 'No, no way. That's so stupid.' 

'It was cute.' Sakura didn't laugh but Naruto caught one of her smirks playing at her lips, the kind she had when she was a bit too tired to laugh. 'Then you told him you're tired and passed out. Ino and I took your bed, hope that's okay. I think Lee slept in Iruka's, so no hooking up there.'

Naruto stayed silent for a few moments. Sakura stood up but didn't exit the bathroom; Naruto made no move to try to figure out what she was doing, but after a few moments the girl had kneeled in front of him and was wiping away Naruto's makeup with a cotton pad. He was much more thankful than he let on - Sakura took such good care of him but he was simply too hungover right now. 

'Hey, Sakura.' Naruto broke the silence uncertainly after Sakura was done removing his mascara, the boy compliant fully under her touches. 'I saw Itachi last night.'

Sakura stood back up and slowly made her way to the sink, starting to remove her own makeup. She took a moment to respond. 'And? Was he with Sasuke, or someone else, or?'

'No, no, he was alone. He was just passing under the balcony but he /stared/ at me all the way, right? And he knows who I am, obviously. But he was so... Threatening, I'd say? Scary. It's like he was angry with me or something.'

Sakura let out a soft hum in response. It felt weak, like she didn't really have it in her to give an actual reply. Naruto had turned away from her again. There was silence over them but Naruto honestly didn't mind - his stomach was upset again, his head started throbbing and his entire body felt wrong and sluggish. He probably should have reigned it in a little yesterday. He still would have to apologise to Neji, too and make sure that he wasn't hurt by what happened last night, though he was fairly certain Neji didn't have feelings for him. Maybe this was a sick game to hurt Hinata, he wouldn't put it past Neji.

This party would've been much better if Naruto had invited Sasuke. He could be the one making out with a cute guy on his couch. Maybe next time. He really didn't want Sasuke to come when he was sick. 

'Thanks for helping me, Sakura.' Naruto pushed himself up from the floor and braced himself in the doorframe so he wouldn't stumble and fall. 'I'm making toast, you want any?' 

'I don't think I can eat right now, but if you have some OJ I'd want that.'

Naruto snorted quietly at that and made his way over to the kitchen, stepping over the bodies of Tenten and Neji. He shot a wink at a half-awake Kiba when he passed him by, which in turn earned him a quiet groan. 'You want anything?' He asked the brown haired boy, who stretched and popped his back before settling back into Shino's arms. He nodded and mouthed 'water'. 

Naruto prepared toast for himself and fixed a glass of water and a glass of juice for his friends. He brought the juice to Sakura first, who was in his bed next to Ino, then headed back out to Kiba and sat on the armrest of the couch as he munched on his toast. 'You slept in your binder, Kiba.' He muttered when he looked at his friend, now sitting up and drinking his glass of water. 

'Yeah, well.' Kiba mumbled. 'I was cuddling with a super cute guy, I couldn't just whip it off.' He wrapped his arm back around Shino once he'd set his glass down. The other boy was stirring in his sleep, his head laid in Kiba's lap. Naruto smiled fondly at the two of them and finished up his breakfast. 'Take it off when you get the chance, right? You know it's bad for you to keep it on for a long time.' He stood up from the couch and decided to start cleaning up amidst the half asleep bodies before Iruka got home. 

\---

'how you doin?' It was a lazy afternoon in Naruto's small apartment, he himself sprawled out on the couch and listening to whatever weird music Kiba had sent him. He just got home from his practice and decided that since he was meeting Sasuke tomorrow, he could text him without it coming off as pushy or weird. He'd been wondering all week how Sasuke was, he was /worried/. He was aware that they'd met only a few times but he felt such a strong connection to the black haired boy - and besides, this is just who he /was/, always concerned about the well being of other people. 

It took five minutes for Sasuke to text back. Naruto could almost see Sasuke waiting that amount of time to not seem desperate. 'I'm doing much better, I'll be able to make it to your school tomorrow as usual.' God, Naruto loved the perfect punctuation. So classy. 

'cant wait' Naruto hoped that would come off as cool and funny rather than literal, which it actually was. The thought of seeing Sasuke again made him inexplicably happy. He had to take a second to breathe correctly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's kind of a filler so I could experiment and practice and stuff but I got some bonding in there so. Also I'm pretty ahead of sched so I'll probably upload some more pretty soon!


	6. Cold

Every single time Naruto met Sasuke it was like meeting a new person.  
'Hey there.' Naruto didn't even try to suppress the large, happy smile on his face as he entered the classroom. He looked up as he shut the door behind himself, throwing his bag down and shrugging his orange bomber jacket off; and there Sasuke sat, just as gorgeous as always, his hair now let down, parted at the side this time, neatly covering most of his face. His face didn't look as pale as last time, he seemed much better rested, too. That day, he was reading what looked like poetry instead of his usual literature.  
'Hey.' Sasuke didn't stand from his seat, instead he waited for Naruto to approach him and sit down. He closed up his book and slipped it into his bag, the bookmark dangling out between the pages.  
'You look much better, you're feeling all healthy and good?' Naruto asked as he threw himself down into the chair, stealing a glance. Sasuke had dangly earrings in that made a satisfying noise as he moved his head. He pulled out his notebook and his pen.  
'Yeah, I am. I still have a cough but I'm mostly over it.' Naruto was surprised to hear such a long sentence from Sasuke. Definitely in a good way, though.  
'Great, 'm glad. Also, look at this, right.' Naruto opened up his notebook and pulled out a paper from between the pages, all but slamming it in front of Sasuke on the desk. 'Look, this is my most recent exam from Friday. I got a 70%. The best one I had this year was 43 and that was because I was cheating.' He was almost beaming with his pride. He had just got this back today and had been waiting all day to show Sasuke, like an excited child.  
Sasuke took the paper from his hands and turned it over, looking at his answers. When his eyes landed on the mark, Naruto saw his lips positively curl up and his heart suddenly felt like it might explode right out of his chest. How /beautiful/. Naruto really wished Sasuke would smile more.  
'That's great.' Sasuke's expression was back to the usual in just a second as he made eye contact with Naruto. Despite not smiling, his eyes seemed to be glowing. He didn't have to say or do anything else for Naruto to know he was proud - of Naruto or himself, he wasn't sure, but it felt amazing nevertheless.  
Sasuke seemed to be sitting just a bit closer today than usual, even closer than back at his place. Their knees knocked together when Naruto spread his legs to sit more comfortably. Sasuke would lean close when he was showing Naruto something and he smelled even more like vanilla this time, though the scent of smoke and coffee were still right there, so dangerously close to Naruto that he was going crazy. He wanted to bury his nose in that ridiculous, velvety black hair, find the source of the sweet smell. He wanted to chase the coffee on Sasuke's lips, the lingering smoke on his fingers.  
And yet still, he kept to himself, all of his usual charm and confidence down the drain when it came to Sasuke. He'd been thinking about why he hasn't made a move when usually he was open about what he wanted and took rejection well. Maybe he was scared about being judged for his sexuality, but that was stupid, he was out in the open and made friends with those that hurt him for it at the start. Maybe he didn't want to make things awkward between him and Sasuke. Maybe he enjoyed feeling like Sasuke was out of his reach and just a dream, maybe he just thought he wasn't good or pretty enough for him.  
Their time was over way quicker than Naruto would've liked it. Before he knew it, they were walking down the hallway, Sasuke's chains chiming with every step he took. Naruto tried not to let it show that he could barely take his eyes off of him.  
He was trying to think of things to say to Sasuke. It was hard when Sasuke was so quiet and his mind was going absolutely blank because this guy was so gorgeous. He decided to stay quiet next to him - Sasuke was reading, anyway. Emily Dickinson. He'd have to ask Ino about her, she was good with literature.  
When they stepped outside, it was already dark, the street lamps seeming too dim in the fog, the air laced with a biting chill. Naruto had to pull his coat tighter around himself. The two of them were about to part at the parking lot when Naruto stopped in his tracks and worked up his courage to speak. 'Hey, Sasuke?' A black pair of eyes were suddenly up at him, sharp, like Itachi's a few nights ago, but not nearly as intimidating. When he realised this was Sasuke's prompt for him to continue, he asked, 'Do you need a ride? You live quite far out and it's cold, so...' He cursed himself for losing his cool. He wished he wasn't so uncertain with his offer. What was it with him around Sasuke?  
The other boy's lips formed a smirk that Naruto just barely caught in the dim light. A /smirk/. What was that supposed to mean? Before Naruto could ponder too hard, Sasuke dropped his book into his tote bag, his earrings chiming with the movements of his head and he looked up, his eyes brightly twinkling even in the dark. 'Yeah. I'd appreciate that.'  
Naruto's grin grew wide. 'My car's over there, the orange one.' He pointed to the small, old, kind of ugly car that he and Iruka shared, but it was one of the three cars in the parking lot so it was hard to miss. 'My foster dad let me choose the colour when I was 8.'  
Naruto's wording was deliberate. Maybe Sasuke would feel the weight of the words, find himself in them.  
He noticed the way his shoulders fell, the way his fluid movements staggered for a moment - he would've missed it had he not been paying close attention.  
When Naruto started the car, Kiba's music started playing through the too-old radio. It was some edgy alternative kind of music that he sent him yesterday, and since Naruto liked it, he listened to it on the way here. He glanced over at Sasuke, who was perched on the edge of the car seat in his ever gracious manner, kind of like a proud bird. 'Hey, fasten your seatbelt, right? Trust me, you might need it.' Naruto spoke over the music and caught the raised eyebrow under the black bangs. Sasuke complied either way and they were off.  
Naruto always made sure that whoever he was driving had their seatbelt on, and there was a good reason to this: he was just a terrible driver. He didn't know how he managed to pass his test, neither did any of his friends. He took very sharp turns, continuously went over the speed limit, went way too harshly on the brake, they often made someone else drive Naruto's car just so they wouldn't have to endure whatever he was doing.  
Right now, though, Sasuke next to him, he tried his hardest to be as safe as he could. He was still really bad with slowing down gently, but at least he wasn't running red lights or going way over the speed limit. When he came to a sudden halt at a red light, he leaned back in his seat.  
'You don't mint the music, right? One of my friends always finds these cool, obscure bands and puts them into a playlist for me - my friend group shares a Spotify account cause some of us are too broke to afford it.' When Naruto glanced over to Sasuke, he saw him pressed back into his seat, one hand clutching the roof handle, the other holding onto his seatbelt. Naruto let out a laugh at that. 'Come on, I know I'm a bad driver but I was actually /trying/ this time, give me some credit.'  
'This is better than your usual?' Sasuke sounded a little out of breath as he adjusted himself, sitting up straighter and letting go of the handle. Naruto let a quiet chuckle slip past his lips.  
'Look, I've only got into two accidents so far and neither of them were serious, so I think I'm doing pretty well.' Sasuke gave an amused sound, then there was silence again for a few moments.  
'Your friend has great taste, by the way. This band originated from the area I lived in previously, Itachi took me to see them live once.' Naruto would give anything just to listen to Sasuke talk so casually for a long time.  
'Oh, were they good live?' Naruto asked, hitting the gas way too quickly and causing Sasuke to fall back into his seat again. 'Sorry, sorry.'  
Sasuke collected himself and sat up straight again. 'No, I wouldn't say that. Their record is fantastic, though.' Naruto wished he could see the smile he felt in Sasuke's tone. He was a lot more emotive with his voice than Naruto originally thought.  
'Dissapointing, right? I hate when that happens. I got a ticket for one of my favourite artists for one of my birthdays and I swear the opening band was amazing, right? And then she came on and she /sucked/ so /bad/.'  
Sasuke hummed in response. 'Who was it?'  
'You're gonna laugh at me.'  
'No, I won't.'  
Naruto left a little pause. 'It was Lana Del Rey.'  
Sasuke snorted and Naruto, in response, gave him a soft shove. The fabric of his jacket felt old and soft.  
'You promised you wouldn't laugh!' Naruto whined, his cheeks heated up, though hidden in the late afternoon darkness.  
'I didn't.' The challenging tone made something inside of Naruto stir.  
'You snorted, that's the Sasuke equivalent of it.'  
'Yeah, well,' Sasuke picked up his bag when they were getting close, 'the fact that you're so ashamed of it is what makes it so funny. Other than that, it's just surprising.'  
'They do call me unpredictable,' Naruto pulled up into the parking lot and watched as Sasuke fished a box of cigarettes from his pocket. Before Sasuke got out, he shot just the slightest smile at Naruto, his face illuminated by the light in the roof of the car. This time, Naruto couldn't count on the darkness to cover his red cheeks when he saw the way those pretty lips curled up. He must've known what he was doing, he was trying to charm Naruto, he was sure of it.  
'Thank you for the ride. See you next week.'  
Before Naruto had a chance to say goodbye, Sasuke had closed the door and was lighting his cigarette as he made his way to the door of the gloomy looking apartment complex. Naruto heard the faint rustle of chains as he moved away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke likes weird indie music change my mind. Thanks for reading!


	7. Blizzard

The sky was already pitch black when Naruto walked through the hallways, one of the lights above him flickering wildly. The school was mostly empty by now, the only ones still here being the cleaners, the janitor that Naruto was really fond of, and a few other members of his volleyball team. A pretty serious match was coming up and their coach wanted them all to be well prepared for it, so he made his team add another day to their training schedule. Naruto really wouldn’t have minded as much if it wasn’t Friday afternoon – Ino often took them out for a coffee on Friday afternoons, since she was the only one of them that could actually afford it – but he really liked most of his team and he enjoyed playing with them, so it wasn’t that much of a problem for him.

When he stepped outside, it was snowing heavily. He stopped in the doorway for a second to pull his bright orange beanie over his wild blond hair and cover his hands with the fluffy black gloves that Iruka got him as a gift, and for a second he smelled cigarette smoke. Taking another step, he found the source – an unmistakeable pair of black eyes glanced up at him as he turned, illuminated by the soft glow of his burning cigarette. 

“Sasuke, hey. What are you doing here?” Naruto could barely contain his grin when he saw the figure standing in the shadows. His stomach felt like a rollercoaster. 

“Hey.” The other boy returned in-between two drags, smoke dancing wildly around him. “I just finished tutoring another kid. Your school does a very bad job at teaching people math.” 

“I know.” Naruto let out a soft laugh and fished his box of smokes out from his jacket pocket. “Mind if I join?” He asked, and when Sasuke shook his head, he stood next to the other under the roof, his lighter flickering. The snow was unrelenting, piling up already on the ground and on top of the cars in the parking lot. His eyes scanned over Sasuke’s scrawny little body, wrapped up in the same old, worn looking jacket as last time. He had a scarf tight around his neck and his hood on his head, but otherwise seemed unprepared for the current weather. Naruto frowned as he lit his cigarette. 

“Pretty harsh weather, huh?” He slid his glove back on after he pocketed his lighter. It had a fox on it, Sakura bought it for him at the corner shop; she said it reminded her of him. He continued talking once he realised he wasn’t going to get small talk out of Sasuke, “…And I’m guessing you wanted to walk?”

The black haired boy sighed quietly. “Itachi was supposed to pick me up but I don’t think he’ll make it.” Naruto took note of how tired Sasuke sounded. 

“Does he work somewhere else?” Naruto took the opportunity to ask the other boy about his mysterious brother. The image of him glaring at Naruto a week ago was still fresh in his mind. The only answer he got was a quiet “Yeah” and he decided not to press it any further. It seems like he had to wait for more answers about Sasuke, no matter how curious he was.

They stood in silence for a moment, Naruto stealing glances at Sasuke. He was sure it was obvious, too, but Sasuke looked so graceful with his pretty hands and smoke spilling out from between his lips that he couldn’t just look away. 

When his cigarette had burned down fully, he threw the butt on the ground and stepped on it. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.” He offered, flashing a smile at the other boy, hoping to be charming. His smile just grew wider when he saw Sasuke throw down the rest of his cigarette after a moment’s consideration and look up at him. His eyes reflected the lights of the streetlamps. 

“Yeah, thank you.”

Naruto threw the duffel bag in the back and sat in next to Sasuke. The poor boy was shivering in the car. It reminded him of the time he was running that high fever – his arms wrapped protectively around his middle, his head tilted down to conserve as much heat as possible. He saw him pull out his phone and start typing, supposedly to Itachi. Naruto turned on the engine, though it needed a bit of time to properly turn over in the cold. His music started playing when the car finally started up, and Sasuke snorted. “Mr Brightside? Really?”

“It’s a great song, right?” Naruto shot a grin at Sasuke and started driving the small orange car. “You got your seatbelt on?” 

“Going without it next to you is suicide.” Sasuke commented, earning a little shove from Naruto. Well, Naruto had to admit that he was right in a sense. 

That time, he was paying even more attention than last time Sasuke was in his car. The snow on the roads was slippery and if something happened to them he would not be able to forgive himself for it, so he went under the speed limit, made sure to stop slowly and paid close attention to the lights, to the pedestrians, to the other cars. It took up all of his attention - he didn’t even notice the music switching over to Sakura’s rap playlist - so when Sasuke spoke, he was surprised. 

“You can actually drive.” It was more of an amused hum, a comment made to himself if anything, but Naruto was still filled with pride over that small remark. He flashed his smile at Sasuke.   
“I’m a man of many talents.” 

It was only a few moments later that Naruto’s car stalled just a block from Sasuke’s place, right at the intersection. 

Naruto let out a little groan and tried to start the car again. Just like when he tried to start it in the school parking lot, the engine turned over, but wouldn’t start. Second time, no luck. After the third time, Sasuke spoke up. 

“I don’t think it’s going to work. Just call towing.”

Naruto threw his head at the steering wheel in frustration and let out an irritated groan. “Fuck, Iruka is going to kill me. We can’t just afford a tow truck.” For a few seconds, he mulled on his fate in silence, willing the rising anger to go away, but just before he was about to get out of the car and grab his warning triangle, Sasuke continued. 

“Alternatively… we could push it to my place. It’s just one block.” He suggested. Naruto sat back in his seat and put on the warning light while he considered the offer. It didn’t take long for him to hop out of the car when he saw that the road was empty. 

“Get in here, then. You’re steering, I’ll push.”

///

Pushing the small orange car was an easier task than Naruto had anticipated – then again, he considered himself to be pretty strong. He managed to push it all the way into the parking lot and get it into a spot that wouldn’t bother the rest of the building. Working together with Sasuke was a breeze, the boy was obviously smart enough to figure everything out on his own and Naruto only had to use his brute force and none of his brain. He panted heavily once the car was in place, wiped the sweat off of his forehead and watched Sasuke get out. “Hey, thanks for helping out, right?” He laughed a breathless little laugh at the other, leaning against the car. “I think I’ll call a taxi.”

“Sure, but come inside first. You’re soaking wet.” Sasuke said quietly and headed immediately for the door. Poor dude must have been very cold in his thin jacket, like Naruto was in the heavy snowfall in his wet jacket. He followed after the flash of dark clothes that was Sasuke, all the way up to the jungle of plants that were outside his apartment, and then inside once the door was unlocked. Sasuke crouched down and undid the laces on his chunky boots, setting them in front of the door neatly, while Naruto just kicked his dripping sneakers off. 

He felt much better once his wet coat was off of his back, even with the drenched pair of jeans sticking to his legs. He pulled his beanie off of his head, his hair a wet mess under it, falling into his face in an untamed manner. 

Sasuke went off into the kitchen, and from the corner of his eye, Naruto watched him take off his hoodie. Underneath it, he was wearing a dark grey long sleeve turtleneck, staying true to his monochrome wardrobe. Naruto was mesmerised by the way the other boy moved, so gracious, somehow so comfortable in his living space that he looked as if he was afloat. When he spoke, his voice was quieter than usual, as if talking any louder would disturb the cosy feeling between the two of them, “Would you like some tea? A glass of water?”

Katsu was already at Sasuke’s feet. She looked like she had just woken up, her eyes blinking lazily as she wove in between the skinny ankles, her tail brushing up against his shin. 

“Yeah, a glass of water would be nice. I’m not really into tea,” he admitted while he leaned against the small dining table. It was obvious that Sasuke and Itachi never really had guests, there was no living area that Naruto could sit. “I’m just gonna call a cab now, the sooner the better, right?’ He said this more to himself than Sasuke, but the other boy still returned a quiet ‘hn’ and set a glass of water down next to Naruto on the table. 

As it turned out, the roads were blocked.

“Well, seems like I’ll have to walk home when the blizzard dies down-“

“Or you could stay the night.”

The words came flying out of Sasuke’s mouth fast, and for a second, Naruto was too dumbfounded to reply, but fortunately, Sasuke spoke before Naruto had to. “It’s too cold outside for you to walk so far and it will only get worse during the night.” Every trace of emotion was suddenly erased from Sasuke’s tone. He was pretending to be purely analytical of the situation and Naruto could /tell/ it was just an act. His suspicions were only confirmed when Sasuke kept talking, stringing sentences together without being prompted to, stepping out of his character. “Only if you want to, of course, but I have a spare mattress, the heating is on…”

“I wouldn’t want to bother you, or be a burden-”

“You wouldn’t be.”

Naruto had to fight the urge to smirk. He was right. Sasuke wanted him to stay, and he was sure that this wasn’t just his hospitality. He wouldn’t be acting weird about it if it was just a favour he was doing Naruto. Despite his best efforts, a knowing smile made his way onto his face and he watched Sasuke disappear back into the kitchen and prepare his tea. “Well, I’d appreciate that. Lemme just call my foster dad so he’s not worried sick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey im goin to the store yall want cliches?


	8. Stay

Surprisingly enough, Iruka was completely on board with Naruto spending the night at a stranger’s house, though he supposed that he didn’t have much of a choice anyway. He mostly just sounded relieved that Naruto was fine. He wasn’t happy about the car but reassured Naruto that he wasn’t angry with him and it wasn’t his fault, the car was just really old. Naruto felt better at that, relieved that he could stop blaming himself for it.

  
Just as he hung up and was about to text his groupchat about what was happening, Sasuke stood in front of him, a pile of grey clothes in his hands. “Go and take a shower if you want. You’ll want to get warm after being outside for so long.” His tone and face were emotionless as always, but his head was angled away; he was seemingly unable to look at Naruto for too long, and he was completely lost on what this meant in Sasuke terms. He accepted the clothes and thanked Sasuke, waiting for the other to make eye contact before he gave him a soft smile.

  
Sasuke’s bathroom was just as small as the rest of the apartment, and he noticed when he stepped in that there was no heating for this room, the chill washing over him and making him shiver. He didn’t waste time in getting in under the spray of water, though he paid careful attention not to stay in for too long, he knew how much water bills could hurt in the winter. He stayed in until he was completely warmed up under the scalding hot water, the steam filling up his lungs. He stepped out of the comfort-warmth of the shower and dried off with the towel Sasuke gave him, then tried putting on the clothes. The sweatpants were fine, they were a bit tight around his thighs but they fit, the shirt, however, looked more like a crop top on Naruto than anything, stopping just above his belly button, stretched out around his torso. He fondly shook his head and took it off, folding it up neatly instead so he could give it back to Sasuke, maybe ask for another one.

  
When he returned to the room, he found Sasuke sitting down on his mattress, already in dry clothes (he spotted the wet ones hanging on a clothes line in the kitchen), texting on his phone, his face emotionless as always until Naruto cleared his throat.

  
It was a pleasure to watch Sasuke’s expression change and twist - it was such a minor difference that he would have missed it if he wasn’t paying close attention - the dark, sharp eyes opening just a little more, the pretty lips parting slightly, eyebrows raised in surprise; and then the eyes falling lidded, focused for a second on Naruto’s chest, mouth closing up and his Adam’s apple bobbing with a gulp.

  
“Your shirt is too small on me. Do you think you can give me a bigger one?” Sasuke’s eyes were immediately on his face instead of his body. He stood, his legs just slightly stuttering as he walked over to the black dresser and then he dropped to his knees in front of it. As he pulled the bottom drawer out, Naruto saw flashes of colours, though faded and worn and all in dark tones but not all black and grey. “I have some of Itachi’s old shirts, if those are okay.” Sasuke cleared his throat before he spoke, his voice returning to the normal, disinterested tone he usually addressed Naruto with. It was all too late, though, his act was falling apart, and Naruto was enjoying the show thoroughly. He could feel that he was making the other nervous and it gave him a surge of confidence.

  
“That’s perfect. Thank you.” Naruto barely made it through the sentence before a mess of dark purple fabric hit his chest softly. He didn’t waste time in pulling it over his chest, only then did he look at the graphic in the front – it seemed like an old, worn band shirt. He expected it to have a foreign smell, but it was the exact same as Sasuke’s, the unmistakeable, unique scent of him that Naruto found so ridiculously attractive. “Yeah, this fits. Thanks.”

  
Sasuke didn’t quite respond to that, instead he headed over to the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I don’t quite have a lot to eat – Itachi was supposed to bring me groceries but I don’t think he will be able to make it tonight, at least not for a few hours.” Naruto felt like he could fall in love with Sasuke talking about such domestic matters in that deep, melodic voice of his. His stomach felt like a rollercoaster as he was listening to him, his heart was pounding heavy against his chest. It took him a moment to be able to respond affirmatively.

  
Sasuke wasn’t being modest when he said he didn’t have a lot to eat but he whipped up a great smelling meal from the few resources he had either way, he was obviously a skilled cook. Naruto could tell just from the way he moved around in his workspace, his fluent workflow, the certainty with which he fit together his ingredients; it was mesmerising to watch him work in more ways than one. Naruto thought he looked stunning in his casual clothes and with his eyebrows furrowed in focus, with his hair following every moment of his head and shining blue under the kitchen lamp. He was running his mouth to make up for Sasuke’s silent way of being, he talked about how he listened to some more of that one band’s songs, then about how Kiba was very jealous that Sasuke’s seen that one band live, then about his weird boyfriend. Sasuke didn’t seem to mind his rambling, he’d nod and hum in response, sometimes respond verbally, and Naruto swore that he could see him smile when his face was turned away, in the way he usually did, with only the corner of his mouth turning up.

  
They were already eating at the small dinner table when Katsu left Sasuke’s neatly made mattress and jumped into her owner’s lap while he was still stuffing his face with the frugal dinner he put together (which Naruto thought was fantastic, eggs over toast with tomatoes and spring onions on the side, very pleasantly seasoned, too. Sasuke wasn’t just showing off back in the kitchen). Naruto watched as the black little nose smelled the food and how a gentle hand pulled her away and heard Sasuke mutter “not for you” under his breath.

  
“Have you had her for a long time?” Naruto asked, finishing up his food – he wolfed it down already when the other boy was only halfway through his own. He didn’t want to let Sasuke know just how hungry he was (he just came from practice, after all) so he wouldn’t feel like he had to give Naruto more than he could spare.

  
Sasuke took a moment to answer the question, seemingly thinking it over for a moment (in that short pause, Naruto texted the others to let them know where he was spending the night). “Well-“ he started after removing the cat from his lap, “Two years. She was my cousin’s before that.”

  
“Why did your cousin give her to you?” Naruto asked, but when Sasuke looked down immediately after the question, he realised he shouldn’t have asked that. He’d recognise a look of loss anywhere. “I’m sorry.”

  
If Sasuke was surprised at the apology, he didn’t show it. Instead of replying, he watched as his cat pattered away and added, “Her name is actually Katsudon, Shisui’s favourite meal.” He didn’t sound sad like Naruto expected him to, he sounded like he was suppressing one of his smiles. He supposed this was more of a pleasant memory than a painful one.

  
“Creative,” Naruto gave a weak smile as he spoke, despite the realisation of what Sasuke just told him washing over him: he’d lost his parents, then his cousin, two years ago. “She’s really affectionate, she must love you a lot,” He hummed quietly, watching her trot up to her bowl that Sasuke had previously filled.

  
“It never seems like that when she scratches my legs in the morning.” Sasuke finished his last bite and sat back in his chair, his arms crossed casually over his chest. Naruto let out a quiet laugh in response, just as his phone started to blow up with his groupchat’s messages. He decided to silence his phone and slip it into his pocket. They could wait for now.

  
“I mean, that’s a sign of love, isn’t it?”

  
They stay at the dining table for a long time after that. The heater was close, this might have been the warmest point of the room; the noise of the blizzard gradually died down and made more space for their quiet conversation. Despite his first impressions, it didn’t seem like Sasuke was shying away from talking, even though he talked less than Naruto, but that was to be expected with how much Naruto could run his mouth. Most of their topics were nothing serious, they talked about their interests, which Naruto found out they shared a few of, like caring for houseplants, comics (which they both had to pirate because they were both very broke), music, and probably a lot more they didn’t get to talk about; he also found out that Sasuke hated sports, including volleyball, loved poetry and liked writing poems (which he only begrudgingly admitted and told Naruto he’d never see any of them).

  
When the conversation shifted from small talk to family, Naruto didn’t notice, but Sasuke very gently asked about his foster dad at one point. It didn’t seem out of line, not really, but he could notice the air around them somehow growing tighter, more intimate.

  
“It’s… a weird story, right? But the short version is I lost my parents when I was two, our house burned down and I survived - my dad saved me but couldn’t get out himself. So I was taken to my closest relative, my uncle Nagato, but he’s kind of a weird guy and I didn’t really fit into his lifestyle, drugs and all, so after a few months he took me to an orphanage where my foster dad was volunteering, right, and I guess I was too charming for him not to take me in.” Naruto gave Sasuke a soft smile despite the heavy topic, swishing his water around in his glass.

  
“Why didn’t he adopt you if he’s been looking after you for fifteen years?” Sasuke asked, his voice somehow growing quiet.

  
“He wanted to, but he got a check every week which we needed a lot, and he would’ve lost that if I was adopted. My adoption agency made sure I could stay with him, loopholes and shit. And Nagato was fine with signing off on any decisions that required him to be involved, so we didn’t really see any drawbacks, right? But now I’m 18, I guess he’s no longer really my foster dad, but it’s not like anything really changed other than the papers and the paycheck, which I don’t care about.”

  
Naruto expected Sasuke to ask something, or show pity or empathy or whatever, but instead, he stayed quiet. Naruto took that opportunity to ask about what has been on his mind for a while.  
“What did you mean by ‘sort of’? Does Itachi live somewhere else?” Naruto could see Sasuke’s shoulders tense and he felt a little bad for asking until Sasuke replied.

  
“He has two jobs a few towns over. During the week, he stays over there and he comes home for the weekend whenever he can.” Sasuke was now looking at Naruto’s face, and though he noticed, he was still watching the water swishing around in his glass.

  
“Why don’t you live with him, then?” He pressed, feeling like Sasuke was being vague on purpose. The other boy sighed and let out a very cynical sounding chuckle on his exhale. Naruto realised that this was the first time he’s heard anything that resembled a laugh from Sasuke and it was /that/.

  
“He sleeps in a hole. It’s a room around this size, but there are just four beds and nothing else, with a communal kitchen and a bathroom. It’s the cheapest thing on the market.” Sasuke sounded bitter and angry – Naruto knew this because that’s exactly how he felt, too.

  
The sound of Katsu playing with a plastic bag filled the silence between them.

  
“Where is he now?” Naruto set down his now empty glass with a satisfying noise, his eyes now searching Sasuke’s face. The other boy’s gaze was turned down onto the tabletop this time. It was like a game between them, not letting their eyes meet.

  
“He said he was stuck in the snow but he called for help. He said he didn’t know if he’d make it tonight but he’s going to be safe either way.” Sasuke twisted his fingers in his lap almost nervously. He looked so open, even through all of those walls, and Naruto could clearly see the worry in the way his shoulders were brought high up, how his eyebrows were twitching. It was like looking into a mirror in a way; he recognised the terrible fear of loss, watered down to a few small movements that would be lost on anyone who’s never felt it.

“I’m sure he’s going to be fine.” Naruto replied, and before he could tell himself it was a bad idea, he reached over and rested his hand on Sasuke’s tense shoulder. Dark eyes met his own.

///

  
“Yeah, but what if Itachi comes home and I’m sleeping on his bed?” Naruto asked in an almost anxious way. Despite everything, the image of Itachi staring him down still lingered in his mind and he really didn’t want to cross him, especially because he knew that he was the most important person to Sasuke.

  
“Well, first, he knows I have someone over.” Sasuke was helping Naruto stretch the fitted sheets over the spare mattress, his pretty hands working to tuck the elastic under the corner. “Second, we’ll just share a mattress. Itachi and I, I mean. We’re brothers, it happens.”

  
Naruto supposed he was right. He was still anxious.

“No offense but he seems scary.” Naruto could hear Sasuke’s amused noise as he finished setting up the mattress. The boy’s knees popped as he stood up.

  
“None taken.” Sasuke threw a pillow onto the mattress, and then the matching blanket. “He’s tall, secretive, looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks. His coat just adds to it. But he’s not /just/ that.”

  
Sasuke didn’t elaborate and Naruto didn’t feel like he should have.

  
They had talked way into the evening and by the time they made the bed it was already past midnight. Katsu was already asleep on Sasuke’s mattress, laying as a pile of black at the end of it, her tail curled around her body. She looked warm and unbothered by the conversation between the two of them.

  
They ended up sitting on the unoccupied mattress, Sasuke just as close to Naruto as he was a few days ago when Naruto was aching to kiss him, just as he was now. Every time he felt like Sasuke wouldn’t notice, he was looking at his mouth, he was picturing what it would taste like if he had the guts to lean in close, if he wasn’t scared to overstay his welcome.

  
“Where is all this art from? They’re all in the same style, same artist, right?” Naruto asked in a moment when he could think of something other than kissing the boy in front of him. He quite liked them, despite their minimalism they conveyed feelings he couldn’t quite word but could definitely grasp and understand. A few of them were filled with anxiety, a few of them were so calm that Naruto could get lost in them.

  
“Shisui.” Sasuke replied simply, his eyes focused on one of the framed pictures the second he said the name, as if it was a trained reflex.

  
Naruto let a quiet hum slip his lips. “Was he an artist then?”

  
“He was. Amazing one, too.” Sasuke tore his eyes from the wall and turned them to the mattress below him. “We had to sell a lot of his canvases so we could keep this place but we kept our favourites.” There wasn’t a hint of happiness in his voice this time. This was all bitter. His eyes returned to another canvas, right over Sasuke’s mattress, and Naruto followed his gaze. The amount of hurt in the simple painting made his stomach churn.

  
“I can tell he was very talented. The amount of feelings he put into his work is just… incredible. I really don’t know anything about art but I really appreciate these.” Naruto didn’t really know how to take the bitterness away from Sasuke, so he settled for not even trying. He wasn’t sure if he could even begin to understand how it felt. But for that brief moment, he understood how Shisui felt, and Sasuke did too, and he felt them connect wordlessly over the painting they were staring at.

  
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he didn’t remember the last time he was quiet for such a long time with anyone; he certainly didn’t remember silence feeling this comfortable with anyone.

  
“I’m going to bed.” Sasuke told Naruto eventually, and the mattress shifted with Sasuke’s weight as he stood up. He had to step over Naruto to get to his own bed, and as he did, his ankle brushed Naruto’s knee and he somehow felt like all of his nerve endings were suddenly /right there/, like that one small touch was enough to flip his entire body over. He tried to calm his heart as Sasuke turned off the light and slipped into his bed. He didn’t say goodnight, or anything after that, but Naruto could tell he wasn’t asleep.

  
Naruto pulled his phone out to check up on his friends who flooded his messages over the course of a few hours, mostly with stupid jokes about how he was hooking up with Sasuke. He couldn’t help the fond smile as he read them all, and eventually he decided to leave them in the darkness. He sent Iruka a text though, just to let him know that he was fine and Sasuke hadn’t murdered him yet.

  
///

  
Naruto woke up to heavy breathing.

  
If there was just a bit more survival instinct stuck in him, he would’ve jumped up to see what was happening, but he decided to stay laying down, merely just shifting so he was facing Sasuke’s mattress. His eyes blinked open but he couldn’t see anything in the dark yet, he could only hear a hushed voice that he needed a moment to process.

  
“It’s okay. It’s just me. Sorry for scaring you.” Itachi, he was sure. So he made it home safe after all.

  
Sasuke was still gasping for breaths but with each of them, he seemed just a bit more ready to relax. He heard the shuffling of footsteps and the sound of heavy fabric – a coat? Naruto could make out a shadow moving across the room then, all the way over to the mattress that Sasuke was seemingly sitting up on. He closed his eyes after that, too tired to keep them open, but he heard the shuffling that was probably Itachi going to bed, and once he heard Sasuke’s breathing calm down fully, he let himself slip off to sleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly this is way longer than i expected, i guess i just kept gettin ideas idk. hope you like it!! i had a lot of fun writing this  
i wasnt sure about adding the last part, it feels out of place, but i really wanted to show some interaction between the two of them so. idk man!


	9. Kiss

“Naruto, you had the perfect chance to kiss him, or hook up, even, and you blew it, you’re an idiot.” Sakura sipped on the coffee that Ino bought her. They moved their coffeeshop visit to Saturday afternoon since all of them seemed very curious about Naruto’s ‘date’, as they called it. The four of them were sitting at a small table, each of them sipping their respective drinks and mostly listening to Naruto telling them what happened the night before. Sakura had Ino sitting directly next to her, the girl’s arm wrapped around her waist. Kiba was texting on his phone.

Naruto let out a little groan at Sakura, his eyes rolling. “Babe, you know I don’t work like that. I’m a /gentleman/. I’d take him on a date first.” He muttered, stirring his coffee. He could’ve kissed Sasuke yesterday, sure, but hook up with him? No, absolutely not.

“Well, did you ask him out, then?” Sakura challenged further, seemingly enjoying how flustered her friend got.

“…No?” Naruto threw up his hands in frustration. Goddamn, Sakura could be annoying sometimes. “You’re right, okay, I’m a coward. But it’s not like I had a chance. His brother came home during the night so I couldn’t ask him in the morning, it would’ve been like asking him out in front of his /dad/, or something. And he’s scary, okay?” He remembered those dark eyes that stared at him in the morning, glaring, as he passed him. He might have been great with Sasuke but Naruto couldn’t be only imagining this. Itachi surely hated him for some reason.

Ino leaned forward in her seat, “What happened in the morning?” She asked in her typical hushed gossip-voice. Naruto swore she lived off of secrets and other people’s drama.

“Right, I woke up, he was sitting on his bed, on his phone, I think he was watching something, Itachi was still asleep. He was so pretty, his hair was a mess, he looked so sleepy, the sheets left marks on his cheeks, you should’ve seen him. I said good morning, he asked how I slept, I said I slept well. He made me breakfast, oatmeal, and we ate and chatted about the neighbours. So nothing interesting, but he sat so close to me and he was so beautiful.”

“You’re even chattier when you’re in love, huh?” Sakura laughed. Her arm hooked around Ino’s shoulders loosely and she pressed a long kiss to her cheek. Naruto watched them almost jealously, wishing that he had Sasuke so close to him so he could treat him so well.

“I’m not in love, I’m infatuated, okay?” Naruto almost huffed, finishing off his warm coffee. “Anyway. I didn’t speak to Itachi aside from saying good morning to him and I decided to leave when he got up – I’m terrified of him, right? And I was putting my coat and stuff on and Sasuke stayed with me and watched me and we kept talking, and when I was ready to leave, he smiled at me when he said goodbye. I don’t know how he can make me swoon with a single smile – it’s never even a full smile. Maybe it’s because they’re so rare, I don’t know.” He decided to stop his babbling then, lips still curled into a stupid smile. He ran his fingers through his hair.

“That’s so cute, Naruto.” Ino looked like she might cry, the sweet girl. She leaned completely into Sakura and grabbed onto her hand. “I can’t wait for you to introduce him to us!”

“Oh, I want to be the one doing the whole ‘if you break his heart I’ll kill you’ trope,” Sakura added, earning a kick at her chair from Naruto.

“You aren’t scaring him off, no way, he’s already too good for me.” He crossed his arms over his chest in a way that he realised was similar to Sasuke. “Also, can one of you drop me off at home? A friend of Iruka’s said he’d fix our car up for free but it will take a few days.”

“I’ll do it, I’m heading over to Shino’s anyway.” Kiba volunteered, earning a whistle from Ino. “How are the two of you, huh? How long is he gonna take before he asks you out?” She asked, nosy as always.

“I don’t know, but he showed me some cool bugs yesterday which I think means more to him than calling me his boyfriend.” Kiba shrugged. “He’s got some really cool bugs, honestly.”

///

The air in the unbearably humid room was too tense to breathe normally, the heaters running on full blast, which certainly didn’t help the tension in Naruto’s entire body. The noise of Sasuke’s breathing and his pencil sliding along the paper was driving him crazy, they felt like ringing in his ears with how loud they were. He felt overwhelmed by the heat and his thoughts running at a hundred miles an hour. His palms were sweating in a way that he was sure was ridiculously unattractive, he had to keep wiping them on his jeans. His leg was bouncing in his jitter. He could barely pay attention to what Sasuke was trying to teach him, he was making stupid mistakes - Sasuke was surely losing his patience with him. It was difficult to concentrate when he was buried so deep into his thoughts, all about Sasuke and him. He’d been thinking about how to word what he wanted to say for days and everything he’d come up with was stupid and meaningless; and now he was sitting right next to _him_, he looked drop dead gorgeous and Naruto could hear his rejection already; he didn’t feel like he’d ever be in Sasuke’s league.

“Naruto, focus.” Sasuke told him, suddenly really close, his raven coloured locks of hair so close that Naruto smelled the vanilla on them. He was leaning over so he could point at the jumbled mess in Naruto’s notes that only the two of them could decipher, his knees bumping against his thighs, their arms touching. The pretty lips were talking about probability and the coal black eyes were looking _right_ into his own, and Naruto nodded blindly when Sasuke asked if he understood even though he had no idea what he was explaining, too caught up in wanting to taste the coffee and cigarette smoke on him.

He shook his head to try and somehow calm his wildly beating heart and managed to focus for the rest of the ten minutes they had together once Sasuke was finally out of his personal space.

///

He’d paid for the tutoring already, he’d stuffed the notebook into his bag, dropped his pencil and phone in next to it, he’d put on his coat, all ready to go and chicken out. In a single moment of courage, however, he decided to speak Sasuke’s name, turning around to face the black haired boy who was still slowly packing his books, his hair covering most of his face, falling neatly against the skin, his slender hands moving gracefully, nails flashing black.

The eyes that met him caught him off guard. Obviously, they were the same as always, but now that they were so concentrated on Naruto, every coherent thought had left his brain, along with the sentences he’d prepared. Still, they were glimmering expectantly and Naruto knew he couldn’t just leave them without an answer, so he started to stutter, perfectly uncool and unconfident, “Right, I was uh, I was wondering… If you, uh… Ah, fuck it.”

In only a moment, he had closed the gap between them with a long step. His hands moved on their own, his large fingers cradled around Sasuke’s cheek, tilting the sharp jaw up just so, and then two noses bumped together before Naruto finally tasted the cigarette smoke.

His eyes shut, and for that fleeting, short moment, he felt like his body was burning up from the inside just as much as his skin was. His entire chest pumped with his heartbeat, the breath was knocked out of his lungs, his legs felt like they’d disappeared. The kiss he stole felt hour-long despite him pulling back after just a second. This was just a whisper, two mouths ghosting against each other, barely touching, just enough to make the entirety of Naruto’s body go numb.

When his eyes fluttered open, he had already ceased all physical contact with the other body, his limbs moving on autopilot, and was now looking at him from a step’s distance - He was standing with his eyes open much wider than he’d ever seen them, his lips still parted just enough so that Naruto could catch a glimpse of his straight white teeth. He looked in shock, Naruto could see his chest rising and falling rapidly with his breaths, his shoulders drawn up tensely. He watched one of those skinny little hands reaching up to touch where Naruto had kissed him and move to where Naruto took his face into his hands, and that’s when Naruto decided he’d had enough, he’d done enough damage.

“Yeah, I, uh, I’m sorry, this was stupid, I’m…” He grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder, then he was taking long, quick steps towards the door. He finally said “I’m sorry” before he left, leaving no room for Sasuke to say a word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i updated a day late because i didnt quite get the chance to write. I'm still a chapter ahead but i prefer to have two ready to go, ugh.  
anyway. cliches ensue


	10. Apology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really appreciating all of the comments, they inspire me a lot to keep going so thank you for all of em!!!

Naruto was being dramatic and he was aware. He was sprawled out on the couch, limbs loosely dangling off the sides, his curly hair hanging into his face. His earphones were still in, blasting that one band that he knew Sasuke liked but he wasn’t paying attention at all; his thoughts were all on how Sasuke’s lips felt against his own, how they were chapped and just exactly what Naruto imagined them to be, complete with the taste of coffee, the smell of smokes. His entire chest went numb when he remembered the feeling, the way Sasuke breathed against his mouth, the hot air felt like a tickle against his lips, how soft his skin was against his fingertips when he finally touched him; and then he was washed over with the image of him bringing his hand up to his mouth, to his face, as if Naruto had _violated_ him. He felt the guilt building up on his shoulders, weighing him down, pressing him deeper into the ratty little couch.

He draped an arm over his eyes, forced them tight shut. Sasuke probably hated him. He was convinced that he’d misread the boy completely, that there was no flirting in the way he smiled and smirked at him, only the desire for companionship which Naruto was sure Sasuke didn’t have enough of – he was homeschooled, probably isolated from the rest of the world and maybe, just _maybe_ he started seeing a friend in Naruto, and now he tore this away from him with his stupid feelings. He’d ruined everything. He was selfish.

He decided to completely ignore his phone for now, despite Sakura texting him to ask how his ‘date’ went. He recognised this behaviour was bad but if he was selfish anyways he was going to be selfish and take the time to process this alone.

He sat up straight when he heard the front door open and Iruka step in. Despite his intense feelings of guilt he couldn’t help smiling at his foster dad when he greeted him. He watched as Iruka hanged his clothes on the rack, right next to Naruto’s.

“Hey, how was your PA meeting?” He asked softly, tearing his earphones out of his ears and turning off his music. He could see that Iruka noticed that something was off, the way his eyes were round and open and full of concern. How he did that, Naruto never knew – he must have had a tell he couldn’t recognise in himself. Despite this, he answered Naruto’s question.

“It went great, actually. Most of the parents this year are nice and listen to me when I tell them how to help their children. One of the moms tried flirting with me, that was… certainly interesting.” He washed his hands in the kitchen sink and went over to sit next to the younger. “How was your day, bud? Is everything okay?”

When Naruto looked at him, he was met with a caring set of brown eyes and a gentle smile tugging at the corners of Iruka’s mouth. He shuffled a bit on the couch so he could make space for Iruka.

“You wouldn’t have minded if it was a single dad, admit it.” Naruto let out a chuckle despite everything, despite how he was feeling. “You need to get out and find someone, right? Are you thinking about calling back that hot silverette?” He asked, and Iruka rolled his eyes fondly.

“I told you to stop calling him that. And yeah, _maybe_. He was nice.” Iruka loosened his tie and pulled it over his head. “But hey, I can see that something is up with you. Did something happen today?” Goddamn, Iruka was too good at reading him. He really wished that he could have averted the topic without Iruka noticing. He reached to the back of his neck, leaning back and slouching against the pillows. He took a short pause before he answered.

“Iruka, I think I made a big mistake and I feel terrible about it.” Naruto eventually sighed out. He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about this in detail with Iruka, so he settled for vagueness.

Iruka let out a sigh that mirrored Naruto’s, doe eyes settled on him, just as calm as they were before. “Well…” He started, “Do you think you hurt someone with your mistake?”

Naruto bit his lip and thought it over for one second. Realistically, he didn’t know if he had actually hurt Sasuke. He thought he did, he could imagine all of the feelings that Sasuke had right now but those were all speculations, weren’t they? “I… I don’t know. I don’t know if I hurt them.” He admitted eventually. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Iruka smile reassuringly.

“Then I think you should ask this person if they feel hurt by what you did. If they are, you just have to apologise and promise you’ll try your hardest not to hurt them again.” He said with an easy smile. “I’m sure that your mistake isn’t as big as you think it is, I know you’re better than that, and making small mistakes is okay. Everyone makes them. You’re not a bad person for it.”

Naruto buried his face into the crease of his elbow. Iruka obviously didn’t know the specifics, but his vague advice made Naruto ease up anyways – he knew Iruka was right and he should just text Sasuke and apologise. Still, something terrible was inside of him, a bad feeling in his stomach.

“But I was doing what I thought was right – I mean, I know I should’ve asked him, right, but… I don’t know. I don’t know why I did it. I just thought it was the right thing to do.” Naruto dragged his palm down his face, coming to rest on his mouth. He felt overwhelmed by guilt now that he thought about how he could’ve handled this better. He should’ve been better. He should’ve just asked Sasuke like he planned, taken him out on a date if he said yes, back off if he said no. He shouldn’t have done this.

“Sometimes what’s right for you isn’t right for someone else.” Iruka sighed quietly, watching the blonde boy next to him with eyes that suddenly seemed sad and knowing. “You have to talk to him as soon as you can, okay?” Iruka pulled his foster son into his arms, one of his hands resting in the bleached blonde hair.

“Okay. I’ll take a shower and I’ll text him.” Naruto melted into the gentle hold, wrapping one of his arms around Iruka in return. He was always grateful that his foster dad was so physically affectionate. It took years for Naruto to fully recover from his time at the orphanage and the vague memories he had with Nagato and he wasn’t sure he would have ended up this stable if Iruka didn’t give him so much open, honest love.

Naruto pulled himself up with a sigh, directing his thoughts away from all the different ways of how Sasuke could be hurt right now and to how he will apologise to him. “Thanks, Iruka,” with that, he headed to the bathroom.

///

Before he texted Sasuke, he decided to call Sakura, despite promising Iruka that he would do it when he was out of the shower, despite _wanting to_. He needed to hear her input because he trusted her to tell him exactly what he thought. Unlike Ino, she often didn’t quite understand why Naruto did or said or felt things but she always had a new perspective to look at the situation from.

He was sitting on his bed, his fingers grazing through his wet hair, making sure that his tight curls weren’t tangled anywhere while he waited for his friend to pick up. He heard a smile in her voice as she answered. “Hey, babe! When are you taking him out on a date?”

Her cheery voice put a smile on Naruto’s face despite how he was feeling. He could tell that she was excited and hoped that this meant that she wasn’t mad at Naruto for not replying to her texts. He let out a soft sigh before he responded.

“I kissed him.” He admitted, laying back on his bed, uncaring that his hair would wet the sheets.

“Naruto!” She still seemed excited. Naruto didn’t blame her for not reading his tone well. “And? Is he a good kisser?”

“I don’t know – it was just… a short kiss. But I don’t know if he liked it, he… it was weird, right?” He kept his voice down so Iruka wouldn’t hear him. He was still a teenager, he wanted to keep his secrets.

“Wait, wait, tell me what happened.” Sakura’s tone immediately changed, falling flat and serious, Naruto could hear it clearly even over the phone. He told Sakura what happened in detail and the girl paid attention, waiting for her friend to finish what he wanted to say – which took quite some time, considering how much Naruto could talk – and when he was done, she paused for a moment.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Naruto.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“No, look, you’re just ruining your own life here. I know you love running from any form of confrontation but this is ridiculous. It would have been a lot less stressful to stay there and just talk to him, you know.” Naruto let out a soft sigh as he listened to Sakura. Harsh but true, he supposed.

“Right, I know, but I didn’t, now I’m here, so help me now.” Naruto told her, his tone carrying his frown.

“Now first, stop assuming things and _ask him_ about this. You’re the one who’s the mediator with everyone else so try applying that to yourself for a second. Do the whole _communication_ bullshit you put Ino and I on every time we have a problem.” Sakura told him. Tough love, that’s just who she was. “And then maybe you could also tell him how you feel.”

Naruto stayed silent for a couple of moments. Sakura was right, sure. He never followed his own advice. “Yeah, right, okay. I’ll text him, ask him if we could talk. Thanks, Sakura.”

“You know I’m always here. Just call me again if you need to talk.” Sakura replied, and now Naruto could hear her edges soften, her voice get calm again. “I love you, you idiot.”

“Love you too, Sakura.” Naruto smiled as he hung up, opening his messages instead.

///

Sasuke had texted him. His stomach dropped – he must be so confused, so hurt, and Naruto hadn’t even read his message. He felt terrible. The message was simple enough, luckily not a wall of text rejecting him or telling him off.

‘…Naruto?’

His heart pounded heavily in his chest. The message was sent an hour ago. He felt selfish for not checking his phone. He hesitated for a few long minutes before he texted him back, not wanting to leave him on read.

‘Sasuke im sorry for leaving you like that’ was what he sent first, nervously playing with his hair while he thought about what to send next. ‘are you okay?’ He thought that was the correct way to go about this, apologise and then ask if he was fine before he explained himself in any way.

He waited ten minutes for an answer, which were spent with Naruto watching stupid videos to calm himself down and texting Ino about what was happening. He decided not to text Kiba, he was probably with Shino and he didn’t want to disturb. His stomach felt like a rollercoaster with the nerves.

‘I’m okay, I just want to talk to you.’

Naruto wished he could see Sasuke right now, read his face and tone instead of his texts so he could tell what kind of _I’m okay_ this was. His style of texting was too formal to let him know how he was actually feeling under all those commas and periods and capital letters.

‘yeah me too’ was what Naruto sent back, his teeth sinking into his lips, his hands gripping his phone just a bit tighter in his anxiety. ‘look im sorry i dont know what came over me and i really shouldnt of kissed you just like that.’

‘*Shouldn’t have.’ Bastard. He smiled nevertheless. Just like him to correct Naruto in a situation like this. He watched the three dots on his phone dance as he waited for Sasuke’s actual reply, feeling a little calmer, looser because after all, Sasuke was just Sasuke, the guy that would correct Naruto’s math notes when he noticed he made a mistake.

‘I really don’t mind that you kissed me. I actually sort of liked it. I was just surprised.’ Naruto felt a brush creep up to his cheeks. He threw his head back as a laugh slipped past his lips. His entire heart felt so full – Sasuke liked kissing him. His grin spread wide across his face.

He read the text over and over again, cherishing the words in his heart. And when he realized Sasuke wasn’t going to send him another message, he replied. ‘*sort have.’ He then continued, ‘they do call me unpredictable’

‘Don’t get cocky, you’re the one who ran off after kissing me.’ Naruto couldn’t help the chuckle that came from him. He saw Sasuke typing again, so he waited until he received another text. ‘I just didn’t think you would be into me, honestly, which is why I was so surprised.’

‘why wouldn’t i be into you? youre gorgeous and smart and fun. i actually wanted to ask you on a date before i kissed you n all that’ Naruto ran his fingers through his hair again, pulling the wet curls away from his face. He couldn’t believe his luck.

Sasuke took a bit to respond. ‘I wasn’t sure if you were into dudes.’ Naruto noticed him typing again, so he waited until he received another text. ‘If you had asked, I would have said yes, by the way.’

‘well would you say yes now? this is a lot less romantic over text but i thought we could go to the ice rink on friday if thats good for you?’ Naruto has never felt so relieved, or at least he didn’t remember any other time right now. He didn’t fuck Sasuke up. He let his phone drop down onto his chest while he waited for a reply, his eyes closed, his grin wide in his happiness. He might have a chance to kiss Sasuke again.

‘Yeah. That sounds great. I haven’t skated in years, though.’

‘even better. can i pick you up at 6?’

‘Okay.’

‘see you then x’

Naruto texted his friends about what had happened, grinning to himself like an idiot for hours afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fsjgk im not very happy with this chapter but im very happy with the ones after this so :)


	11. Date

“No, I’m not saying you can’t dress yourself, I’m just saying that you’ll want a second opinion on whatever you choose to wear.” Sakura spoke matter-of-factly while she dug through Naruto’s closet, sometimes picking up a piece of clothing and putting it on top of the small pile she made on the floor.

“It’s not like he’ll really see my outfit that well, I’ll have my jacket on and stuff.” Naruto muttered in return, playing with his hair in the mirror. It was in vain, his stubborn curls usually did whatever they wanted. Ino stepped up behind him on her tiptoes and tried to fix some stray hairs.

“Babe, you still need to look good under the coat, what if you two go somewhere else afterwards?” Sakura hummed, flicking through the clothes she’d picked out.

“You really want us to fuck.” Naruto muttered. “You know I’m not like Neji, right?”

“I’m just saying.” Sakura finally found a shirt she liked and threw it at Ino, who showed it to Naruto. Striped, thin white on gray. He shrugged and nodded at her; he thought he looked good in that one, it showed off that he was well built.

“You look really handsome in this one.” Ino complimented him, touching his shoulder gently. She laid it out on the bed and Sakura threw a pair of black jeans over them. “You’ll tuck that in, get a belt for it, that will look great. You know I love you in high-waisted pants.” She said, and Naruto observed the outfit that the girls were putting together for him. He was honestly moved by how much they cared for him and how much they wanted this date to go well. They seemed just as excited as he was.

“You two are flattering me.” Naruto laughed a little, gently rubbing the back of his neck. “I was thinking of wearing my orange hoodie? It’s warm, it looks good with my skin, it should be good with my jacket, right?” He asked, and Sakura dug through the closet to find it. She held it up, looking at Naruto over it.

“Hmm… Yeah, this could be good.” Sakura hummed, her eyes on Naruto as he sat down on the bed next to the clothes. Ino was in front of him, somehow managing to tame his hair with her magic fingers.

“He’ll find you really handsome, I’m sure.” The blonde girl grinned in his face, running her hands down his cheeks affectionately. “Are you putting makeup on?” She asked, pulling away and helping Sakura put the clothes away in their correct place – she always messed up.

“I haven’t really decided yet.” Naruto admitted, turning his body so he could look at his clothes. He could barely express how nervous he was. He and Sasuke have been texting back and forth casually over the few days that have passed since he kissed the boy and with every conversation, he liked the boy even more. He really wanted to impress him.

“Ooh, Ino could do that cool orange makeup she did for your party a few weeks ago.” Sakura said, and Naruto laughed a little at the enthusiasm that lit up on Ino’s face. “Oh, he’d love that, I’m sure!”

Naruto shook his head with a smile. “If you say so. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, though.”

“You won’t. Now come here, lemme make you up.” Ino giggled happily, sitting right in front of Naruto to start doing his makeup.

///

Naruto had pulled up in front of the familiar apartment complex with the stupid little orange car that was still kicking now that that woman – Ayano? Akiko? – fixed it up. It was the first week of December, Naruto had to wear his beanie and risk messing his hair up to keep warm. His entire body felt hot despite the cold with his excitement, his heart felt like it would jump out of his chest if he didn’t keep it in check, his fingers were tapping the steering wheel with excitement along to his music, his head was running a hundred miles an hour with how he’s going to stay cool and smooth when he was so nervous.

Everyone knew Naruto was no stranger to tardiness but today he was actually a few minutes early. He decided not to text Sasuke that he was here yet to avoid being seen as overly eager, instead he texted Sakura for emotional support.

‘im here im so nervois’ He managed to type with minimal spelling errors, his fingers shaky.

Sakura replied immediately, as if she had been waiting for him to send her a text. ‘I know babe but its gonna be ok, hell like u a lot’, she sent, and followed it with a ‘Have fun xo’. Naruto couldn’t help the smile that spread across his cheeks. He sent a heart emoji back to his friend before he got out of his car and texted Sasuke instead, deciding that a single minute early was no longer creepy.

‘im here x’, he sent simply, leaning against his car door, trying to look cool. He wished he’d gone for a smoke before coming here, he was longing for the strange calm that it brought him but at least he won’t smell as foul if – when, hopefully – he kissed Sasuke. He wished he could just kiss him the second he was out that stupid heavy front door but that would be too soon, too far.

His text was left on read but he heard footsteps in just a minute and when he looked up, his heart sped up so much that he felt like he might have a heart attack. For a moment, he felt the world around him stop, his mind going completely blank, his lips parted in his wonder.

Sasuke was beautiful, just as beautiful as always, but somehow knowing that he made himself this pretty just for Naruto, just because they were going on a date made his stomach go wild. For a second he felt like he might even throw up. He couldn’t help the way his eyes stalked down Sasuke’s body and then up again, taking in his hair, pulled up in a ponytail at the back but letting his bangs hang free into his face, god, that _face_, eyes staring up at him – almost eye level - through lashes thick with mascara, eyelids painted with a faint whisper of brown and gold, scarf around his pretty little neck, his body wrapped up in a short, cropped jacket and baggy black pants, his entire attire all black and looking so stunning on him. He didn’t know how long he was staring for before he realised Sasuke was right in front of him, lips curled in a little smirk.

“Hello to you, too.” His words are distant, cold as the air around them but Naruto finds comfort in them anyway. He focuses his eyes back on Sasuke’s and shakes his head a little to snap back into reality, his closing his gaping lips and gulping quietly.

“Yeah, no, sorry, hi – I just, you’re _stunning_, sorry.” Naruto managed to breathe out, a smile spreading to his face. It was probably a very stupid grin, one that kind of hurt his face, showed off his sharp little canines. He would be berating himself for being so lame and not smooth if his mind wasn’t completely occupied with _Sasuke_.

If Naruto wasn’t watching Sasuke’s face like he was a god, he might have missed the way Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly, the only reaction he had to the compliment. “I like your makeup. Suits you.” He returned, just as emotionless as always save for the way his cheeks were tinted pink, the way he seemed a bit uneasy, not as sure of himself, a bit like when Naruto left him in the classroom a few days ago. He felt his own cheeks heat up when Sasuke complimented him.

“Thanks.” He tried to stop grinning, reducing his smile to a charming, gentle one as he stepped away from the door of his car. “Let’s go, yeah?” He asked, opening the door to the driver’s seat and watching as Sasuke walked over to the other side, his platform boots making pretty noises as he took graceful, long steps, like a doe or something, so effortlessly gorgeous.

They were inside the car, music quietly providing background for them as Naruto started up the engine, earning a hum from Sasuke. “I didn’t think it would work again.” The black haired boy admitted, sitting straight in the seat but already holding onto his seatbelt. Naruto couldn’t blame him for being cautious.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so, either. Been working fine for a few days, though.” Naruto replied, slowly pulling out of his parking space, careful not to be too harsh but probably failing. “Iruka had to pay for some parts, I don’t know what – ‘m not good with cars, to be honest.” He flashed a smile at Sasuke, letting his eyes linger for a second. He really took the time to look this nice for Naruto.

“Yeah, I _know_.” Sasuke’s tone was teasing, playful despite the way he said the words, despite his usual distance. Naruto let out a short laugh.

“Hey, come on, I’ve driven you what, three times counting this one, right, and we’ve only had _one _complication so far. That’s a great rate.”

“Could be worse, I suppose.” Sasuke shrugged, leaning back in his seat and accepting the way the car threw him around with every wild brake and sudden start. “Just don’t jinx it – I’d like to get to the rink in one piece. Can’t skate otherwise.” He hummed, voice pleasantly singing, making Naruto’s little heart flutter. He wondered if he could actually sing – Naruto thought he would be great at it. Maybe sometime he could convince him to sing for him.

“I know I look like I’m bad at driving – and I am,” he paused when he realised he’d ran a light just as it turned red. Good thing the streets were mostly empty, “but no one’s ever got hurt next to me. So don’t worry. Think of it as a rollercoaster, or something, enjoy the ride.” He grinned to himself, afraid to glance over at Sasuke; he was trying to drive well, didn’t want Sasuke to feel unsafe next to him.

“Sure.” Sasuke replied shortly. Naruto knew he wasn’t angry. “It’s hard to take you seriously when Taylor Swift is playing on your radio.”

“Just for the record, right, this is Ino’s playlist, not mine.” Naruto defended himself immediately, smiling when he heard a snort coming from Sasuke.

“It’s on, though, isn’t it?”

“I’m not saying I didn’t put it on intentionally, but it’s not mine.”

A soft chuckle came from Sasuke, so quiet that Naruto wasn’t sure if he heard it well over the music.

It wasn’t long before Naruto pulled up at the ice rink. He and his friends often came here when they had the funds to rent a pair of skates. Ino gave them all a pair of skates for Christmas last year, so it’s been a bit cheaper since then. He got out of the car and grabbed his skates from the back, grinning at Sasuke as he locked the car. “Ready to go?” He asked, watching as Sasuke adjusted his jacket on his back and his hair.

“Yeah, ready.” Sasuke replied, his eyes gleaming brightly under the dim lights of the parking lot.

///

Sasuke looked positively adorable in his rent skates, somehow still walking in a way that wasn’t awkward, keeping his gracious posture. Naruto got on the ice before Sasuke, it feeling like second nature to him. He turned to watch as Sasuke stood at the entrance hesitantly, seemingly anxious to step on the ice, though not letting it show on his face. This guy.

“You need help, Sasuke?” He asked with a teasing grin, laughing at the glare that was shot at him. He skated back to the entrance, standing right next to the other boy. “It’s fine, you won’t fall. I’ll catch you if you do.”

He watched his date take a hesitant step forward, bracing himself on the edge of the rink. When he felt like he was holding his balance well enough, he stepped onto the ice with his other foot, too. Naruto noticed the way his lips parted, the way his eyes were a bit wider, how his hands were held out to retain his balance and he smirked knowingly at him.

“Haven’t skated in a few years, huh?” He repeated the words of Sasuke’s text. “You’ve never skated before.”

“No, I…” Sasuke muttered, then looked up from his feet at Naruto, eyes narrow again until he turned his gaze back to the ice below them. “Once. When I was seven.” He finally admitted, taking a hesitant step forward.

Naruto shook his head, his smirk reduced to a fond smile. “Stubborn.” He muttered, skating in front of Sasuke. “It’s okay. I’ll show you, yeah? Stay here, watch me.” He instructed and waited until Sasuke’s eyes were on him before he started skating. He explained how the movements should go, how he should bend his knees a bit, to lean forward slightly and fall on his hands instead of his ass if he was going to fall.

Then he was in front of him again, only a few inches away from him like when they were at school, Sasuke leaning close to him to explain things to him. He offered his hands to the boy, noticing that the nerves were now evident on his face when those dark eyes glanced into his own. “Come on, I’ll help you. I’ll play teacher this time.” He flashed a grin, catching Sasuke’s little eye roll that was immediately followed by one of his gentle smiles. Gorgeous.

He felt like his heart stopped when Sasuke placed those pretty hands in his own, gentle, so slender that Naruto felt like he could crush the fingers in his large hands. Naruto thought that the contrast in their skin tones was endearing.

“Alright. I’ll try.” Sasuke finally said, following Naruto when the blond slowly started to skate backwards, gently pulling Sasuke with him by his hands. He gave a gentle praise, his tone soft, his eyes searching Sasuke’s face while the black haired boy stared down at his skates and the ice.

Sasuke seemed to be doing better with each passing second, after only a few minutes of practicing he was building up the confidence on the ice and copying the movements Naruto showed him, catching on faster than Naruto expected. “You’re a natural, huh?” He laughed quietly, loosening his hold on Sasuke so the other could get more practice alone. “I never would’ve guessed.”

“You brought me here so I’d fall and you can laugh at me?” Sasuke teased, glancing up from the ice to smirk at Naruto. How he managed not to faint, he didn’t know.

“I brought you here so you’d fall and I can catch you in my arms like in a bad romance novel.” Naruto replied, squeezing the soft little hands before he let go of them. Sasuke retained his balance and kept skating, slow but steady.

“Sorry for foiling your plans.”

The second he said the last word, one of his feet slipped out from under him. Naruto immediately was there, breaking his fall with his chest and helping him stand back up, a laugh erupting from him. “Sorry, what’d you say?”

“Bastard.” Sasuke muttered but the way his cheeks were red as Naruto touched his shoulders showed he wasn’t mad. Naruto’s hands lingered for a few more moments than it was probably necessary.

After that, Sasuke didn’t fall. He was slow, unsure, but he kept up with Naruto’s light pace well. The two of them chatted about pretty irrelevant things, the same way they did when Naruto was staying over at Sasuke’s apartment, the conversation flowing so smoothly that Naruto felt like he’d known Sasuke for way longer than he actually did. They skated for several laps before Sasuke lost his balance again, not falling but grabbing tightly onto Naruto’s sleeve, skinny fingers grasping his arm when they found it.

“I- I slipped.” Sasuke regained his balance and let go.

Naruto chased his hand with his own. He felt like his head was spinning when Sasuke joined their hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo ive decided to round this off in the next chapter. i feel like ive mostly explored this part of the story and achieved my goal of doing a bit of light and easy practice. however, im turning this into a series where i can explore more of the relationship between the two of them and the other characters, so if youre enjoying this you might like the other stuff ill be publishing. they will definitely be more angsty tho


	12. Gentle

“No, The Bends has nothing on OK Computer.” Sasuke shook his head, cutting off Naruto before he could say anything. “And that isn’t to say it’s bad, but OK Computer was the masterpiece, the magnum opus, _everything_. The Bends was an okay record at best. Also it’s bad.”

“No!” Naruto gently shoved Sasuke. “I’m not saying that all of the songs are great but the overall tone and emotion is so deep and raw. Tell me you can listen to it without crying.”

“I don’t listen to it.” Sasuke took a drag before he continued, “I’m sorry but you’re objectively wrong. Everything is so much more developed, professional, polished on OK Computer.”

“Saying it’s objectively better is inherently elitist.” Naruto muttered, mostly to seem smart (he learned these words from Shikamaru), “There’s a reason Fake Plastic Trees is one of their best known songs and that reason is that it _fucks_. I cried to it for hours after breaking up with one of my exes.”

“You just cry a lot.” Sasuke concluded. “You could cry to Exit Music or something instead. You heard the climax in that song? Now that’s crying material.”

Naruto huffed and flicked his cigarette into the bin near him. He didn’t know if he had any more points that he could articulate well. They sat in silence for a moment, the sky above them bright with stars, the moon a thin crescent already nearing the horizon. Sasuke was wrapped up in the extra hoodie Naruto had brought – he took it in case Sasuke didn’t dress warm enough, which he didn’t – and they smoked together, Sasuke perched on the metal bike rack and Naruto leaning against it; they’d left the rink at least an hour ago but their conversation flowed so well that neither of them really wanted to leave yet.

The silence was comfortable to Naruto in a way that was weird and foreign, he was the type of person to babble to fill any kind of gaps in conversation. Before long, though, Sasuke spoke up in a way that made Naruto think he was nervous to ask this.

“So, you’ve got a lot of exes or what?” Naruto couldn’t decipher what was off with Sasuke’s tone, but it seemed weaker than the voice that spoke confidently to Naruto. He glanced over at him, taking in his sight, the way he looked away, the way the cigarette burned between his fingers without him bringing it to his lips, how he hunched over instead of holding himself up straight.

“Well…” Naruto started, reaching for his box because he didn’t know what else to do with his hands. “There was a time when I was… Desperate, I think is the right word. I wanted so much to be loved, right, you know how it is when you’re fourteen or fifteen or so and have a difficult family life. So I’d just jump at any opportunity, at any guy or girl or person that said I’m pretty and worth loving.” H explained, his cheeks burning up. “But there was no real emotional connection in most of them, except for one – remember, Kiba, I talked about him? We realized we love each other as friends, though, we were dysfunctional in a relationship. I stopped doing these meaningless relationships after a while, then I had another boyfriend last year but he was an exchange student so we ended it some time before he left. So, I have two serious exes and like… ten or so more that were basically nothing.” He concluded, feeling like he’d rambled enough.

Sasuke stared ahead of him with a soft hum, his shoulder still hunched. “Yeah, well. I get why everyone’s obsessed with you.”

Naruto laughed, trying to play off his blush. He didn’t think a compliment from Sasuke would feel so amazing. “And you? Bet you’re pretty popular with guys, or whoever else.” He returned the question, curious to hear about Sasuke’s love life.

Much to Naruto’s surprise, however, Sasuke laughed that terrible bitter chuckle that he heard back in his apartment. “Yeah, well. I’ve been homeschooled since I was what, twelve? Never really got the chance. Girls seemed to dig me in elementary, though.”

“Wait, you’re saying you’ve never been in a relationship?” Naruto asked, his eyes wide. “But, fuck, you’re _gorgeous_, you’re so smart, so intelligent, I thought you’d get hit on all the time.”

“Complete isolation does things to a person’s… social life.” Sasuke shrugged, trying to play it cool but Naruto noticed the way he hung his head, the way his cheeks were red. He took a deep drag.

Naruto watched him with a soft smile on his face. He could tell that he was embarrassed about this, which he thought was pretty cute. “There’s no shame in that, you know.” He said in a tone that he hoped was encouraging. “Besides, you’re on a date now, with a real hot guy.”

“Cocky bastard.” Sasuke picked up his head a little to smirk at Naruto, their eyes meeting. Now that they were making eye contact, Naruto realised just how close they’d been sitting, how their hands were inches away from each other, how their faces were close enough that Naruto could see the eyelashes over Sasuke’s pretty eyelids. The cracks on his lips.

“Can I kiss you?” Naruto heard the words slip out of his mouth without his control but didn’t regret them when he saw Sasuke nod his head yes. He looked away from his eyes and down to his lips, licking his own quickly. He reached his hand out to hold Sasuke’s cheek in his hand before he leaned in.

He didn’t think he could describe the way he felt then, the way his stomach waved as if an ocean was inside, the way his heart beat so fast, so loud that he didn’t know if Sasuke heard it, how his legs went numb. But then their lips connected and it all increased tenfold, and fireworks went off behind his eyes and he was sure he was going to have a heart attack.

Sasuke tasted like cigarettes again but not coffee this time. He could tell that he wasn’t experienced by how hesitant he was but he was responding to Naruto, followed him along, let the blond lead him. He wasn’t great – wasn’t bad, either, not by a long shot – but Naruto loved every single second until he pulled away, not wanting to overwhelm him despite how much he wanted to keep going, kiss him for hours.

He didn’t regret pulling back when he saw Sasuke smile. He had a _dimple_. It was still tame, not the kind of smile Naruto had, but he could still tell that it was genuine, pure and his chest felt like it might explode. He reached to gently swipe the strands of hair away from his face so he could see him better and though Sasuke tore his eyes away from Naruto, he was still smiling and Naruto couldn’t help voicing how beautiful he found him. Sasuke shook his head a bit, not quite in disagreement but rather in dismissal.

Naruto would have wanted to stare at Sasuke for a few more hours but he saw the boy’s eyes widen as he reached to his coat pocket. He pulled back to give him enough space to move, then heard the reason he broke away so quickly – the rubble of a phone vibrating. He checked his own for the time – what? It was half past ten already?

“Hey, uh, yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t know you’d be home so early.” Pause. “Oh, uh, I must’ve lost track of time, then. I’m out but I’ll be home soon.” Sasuke spoke, seeming disoriented for the first time since Naruto met him. That must be Itachi. “No, everything is okay. I’ll see you soon. Please feed Katsu. Bye.”

He looked apologetic when he hung up and slipped his phone back into his coat pocket. He stood up, trying to regain composure. “Well, uh, I guess that means I’ll have to get going.” He said quietly and to Naruto it was obvious that he was trying to mask his melodic, soft, conversational voice with the disinterested, too official one. He got up, too, pushing himself away from the rack and picking up his skates.

“Right. Itachi doesn’t know you’re on a date, huh?” Naruto couldn’t help his smirk as he headed to the car with Sasuke.

“I wasn’t sure how to tell him.” Sasuke replied, his hands stuffed into his pockets. “I thought I’d be home before him.” He sat in the passenger seat when Naruto unlocked the car, then the blond followed once he’d thrown his skates in the back.

“Will he come and beat me up if you tell him I took you on a date?” He asked only half-jokingly, glancing over at Sasuke with the smirk still on his face as he tried to start his car up.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I can’t say for sure he won’t.” Sasuke returned. Naruto switched his music to something less ridiculous when his engine was finally running.

“I’ll have to watch my back, then.” He laughed quietly as he pulled out of the lot. “It’s worth it, though.”

“You think?” Sasuke asked with an air of uncertainty that Naruto has already heard from him tonight.

“I do.” Naruto replied with no humour this time. “I really enjoyed spending time with you tonight. I’d love to do it again, if you want that, too.” Naruto said, not hiding his sincerity in the slightest. He knew he’d wanted this kind of certainty after his first few dates, maybe Sasuke would appreciate it, too.

“I do, yeah.”

///

“You’re home late.” Iruka remarked instead of a greeting. “I was worried about you, you know.”

“I’m sorry, I know I should’ve texted you but we started talking and I didn’t notice that two hours passed.” Naruto said, throwing down his coat, his shoes, his beanie.

“You had fun, then?” Iruka asked, eyeing him curiously.

“_Yes_, so much.” Naruto nodded enthusiastically. “He’s so smart, and funny and interesting and witty and – god, he’s so beautiful. You’ve met him, you know how beautiful he is, right?” He babbled, heading into the kitchen. He was hungry, he hadn’t eaten since before he left. “We skated for like two hours, then we just went outside and just _talked_, I never had so much fun on any date, ever.” He started making a sandwich, catching Iruka’s eyes for a second. He seemed calm again. Maybe he was happy for Naruto. He continued to talk. “I feel like he really likes me, I feel like he _trusts_ me which is insane but it feels so _great_, Iruka.”

“I’m glad you had fun, Naruto.” Iruka’s tone was the exact same kind of sincere as Naruto’s. He learned it from him, after all. “He seems like a nice boy. I hope he’ll treat you right.”

“Me too.” Naruto drew in a shaky sigh, not because of nerves but because of his happy excitement. He felt so lucky to know that Sasuke liked him, maybe as much as he liked Sasuke.

He sat down at the dining table and started to eat his sandwich, taking his phone out to text the others and tell them everything that happened. Ino had sent him five texts already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo this is the last chapter in this book. it might be a bit abrupt to end it here but i honestly only wanted to write around 10k words to kind of warm back up to writing and rediscover my style... but i dont regret it, it was very fun to write. i really like the au i kinda created here so im going to keep writing about them in another fic that ive already started haha.  
thank you so much for following along and leaving nice comments and kudos!! 
> 
> tumblr: [here](https://pearsasuke.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> right so I think that writing bad fanfiction should constitute as self care and my therapist really needs to understand that about me. Comments are really appreciated, I'd love some feedback 💕


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